The Business Exit Programme has been developed by Guilford Accounting to help businesses that want to grow more quickly, become less dependent on the owner, and businesses where the owner(s) wish to sell.

The Programme runs for 12 months (although it can be completed more quickly) and involves a monthly workshop with Noel Guilford (a former Corporate Finance partner with big-4 accounting firm Deloittes) followed each month with actions for the business’ owner(s) to undertake.

The 12 modules in the programme are:

MODULE 1: Where are you now and goal setting.

This module benchmarks where you are now against a range of parameters to determine your ‘saleability’ index, the metric we use to assess your business against the 10 drivers of growth: financial performance, growth potential, revenue mix, creating a differentiated market position, building systems, understanding your numbers, cash flow, reducing dependence and knowing your working capital needs.

MODULE 2: Constructing a platform for growth.

Before you can grow or sell your business you need to determine those parts of the business that are scaleable (teachable, valuable and repeatable) and those which are holding you back.

MODULE 3: Determining your sales potential

In this module we will discover your biggest sales opportunities and how to action them.

MODULE 4: Building a differentiated market position

Businesses that have a defendable market position and products or services that are differentiated in the market have a greater sales potential and are more attractive to trade buyers. In this module we will look at how to differentiate your products or services and stake out a point of strategic differentiation.

MODULE 5: Reducing dependence on the owner(s)

The owner is often the biggest barrier to the sale of a business. In this module we will describe how you can extricate yourself from day to day operations and get your staff to take more responsibility and share more of the workload.

MODULE 6: Developing systems

In this module we will examine the importance of having documented systems and processes so that you can delegate day to day operations and ensure a consistent customer experience.

MODULE 7: Getting to know your numbers

Understanding your business numbers, and not just your profit or loss but your balance sheet and cash flow is a key driver of growth and maximising the value of your business.

MODULE 8: Understanding working capital

In this module we delve into one of the areas a lot of business owners fail to understand properly – working capital. We look at how it affects the business valuation, how to calculate how much you need as you grow and ways to reduce it and free up cash prior to a sale.

MODULE 9: Making sure the business is properly capitalised

Businesses need capital to grow; too many businesses survive without sufficient capital which prevents them achieving their sales potential. In this module we look at how to develop financial projections of  the funding the business need.

MODULE 10: What is your business worth?

This module starts with a discussion about how businesses are valued and the importance of future earnings and de-risking a business before growing or selling it. We will return to the goals we set in month 1 and plan the next steps: organic growth, acquisition, partial or trade sale.

After Module 10 you may decide to proceed to a sale of your business in which case Modules 11 and 12 are specifically designed to identify potential buyers and undertake the sale itself.

MODULE 11: Positioning for sale and identifying buyers

MODULE 12: The sales process and what to expect

If you would like to find out more about the Business Exit Programme, including the investment you will need to make, please enter your details on this form. This does not place you under any obligation to proceed.