Think about who might take you over

There’s a little bit of takeover fever in the air right now.

Entrepreneurs who were dying to get out before the GFC are starting to look for an exit.

Bigger players are hunting smart start-ups that can help them quickly add topline growth.

Private equity and venture capital types are suddenly opening their chequebooks.

With this in mind, it is a great idea to have a think – it might just be a daydream at this stage – about who might one day take you over, should you need an exit or a way to scale up.

It might be a rival, a customer, a supplier or someone in a complementary industry or product area. They might have talked to you before, or they might have no existing relationship with you.

Don’t worry too much. The point here is to think about why you might sell, when you might sell and the process that you would need to go through to sell.

What would you need to do for the buyer? How “investment ready” are you right now? What sort of price would you be looking for?

Every good entrepreneur keeps their exit plans in the back of their mind – it’s crucial to do a bit of thinking about yours from time to time.

Get it done – today!