Exiting a business

Exit alternatives

There are many exit options open to business owners. When planning your exit, the trick is to work out which one is most suitable for your business and personal objectives.

There are several ways in which the business owner can exit from their business, including:

• Management buyout - there are few people who know more about your business than your staff
• Trade Sale - the sale of your company or business to another
• Merger - when two businesses agree to go forward as a single new entity
• Initial Public Offering - Most companies that go public are interested in raising capital via an Initial public offering (IPO)
• Liquidation - the process by which a company is brought to an end and the assets and property of the company redistributed
• Personal insolvency - also referred to as Bankruptcy, it is a legal process that gives individuals financial relief by stopping legal actions against them by their creditors
• Closing down a business - involves selling off all the assets of the business, paying off all the debts and whatever is remaining goes back to the owners.