Why Your Exit Strategy Should Begin the Day After You Start Your Business

By Tony Monisse

Building a successful business can feel like a marathon, and many entrepreneurs see selling their venture as the finish line—the elusive kilometre 42. However, for potential acquirers, purchasing your business is kilometre 0 in their marathon. What you see as an ending, they see as a beginning.

The best time to start planning your exit is the day after you start your business. This isn’t about planning to leave—it’s about building value from day one.

The Last-Minute Scramble

Many business owners think about succession planning only when they’re ready to leave—typically 12-18 months before their intended exit. By then, it’s too late to address the structural issues that reduce value. Business owners suddenly focus on exit planning when they receive an unsolicited offer and realise they don’t know their business’s value, when health issues force their hand, or when they’re burnt out and want out quickly.

The issues that reduce value (owner dependence, customer concentration, inconsistent systems) take years to address properly. You can’t fix structural problems in a few months before sale.

Exit planning isn’t simply about finding a buyer or structuring a deal. It’s about building a business that creates options for your future; whether that’s selling to a third party, transitioning to family, management buyout, or simply stepping back whilst retaining ownership. The most critical question that a business needs to ask is: what makes my business valuable to someone else? The answer lies in building a business that can thrive without you.

The Aconex Story

Aconex, the Melbourne-based construction collaboration software company, demonstrates building for value from the beginning. Founded in 2000, the company built a subscription-based model with recurring revenue and invested heavily in product development and customer success teams. They established operations across multiple countries, growing to offices in over 40 cities worldwide.

When Oracle acquired Aconex in March 2018 for US$1.2 billion, the company served over 5.5 million project users managing more than $1 trillion in construction projects globally. The business had built strong management depth, documented processes, and created systems that could scale internationally.

The lesson isn’t that every business needs to become a billion-dollar tech company. It’s that building sustainable systems, recurring revenue models, and operational infrastructure from the beginning creates options. Whether you exit at $5 million or $500 million, the principles remain the same: that businesses built on solid foundations, strong teams, and scalable processes command premium valuations.

Building Value While Building Your Business

It is important that businesses keep the end goal in mind from the beginning. This doesn’t mean obsessing about exit dates or transaction structures. It means asking “What would make this business valuable to someone else?” and making decisions accordingly.

Every business owner makes dozens of decisions each week. When you keep value-building in mind, these decisions shift. Instead of hiring people to support you, you hire people who can eventually replace you. Instead of keeping critical knowledge in your head, you document processes so others can execute them. Instead of being the sole point of contact, you systematically introduce team members to key accounts.

From our experience, businesses that build significant value maintain discipline around regular reviews. The Quarterly Business Review provides a structured process to assess progress, identify issues early, and adjust strategy. This discipline ensures you’re not just working in the business but actively building its value.

The Walk-Away Number

Every business owner should know their walk-away number—the amount you need from a business sale to fund your desired lifestyle. If your walk-away number is $4.5 million after tax and your business is currently worth $2.8 million, you know you need to build value for another 3-4 years before considering exit options.

Starting exit planning early doesn’t mean you must exit early. It means building a valuable business that creates options—sell, transition, step back, or keep building. Without this foundation, you’re not choosing when to exit—circumstances are choosing for you.

Getting Started

Calculate your walk-away number and get an informal business valuation. Identify the gap between where you are and where you need to be. Then assess your dependencies: Where is your business dependent on you personally? Which customers rely on your direct involvement? What critical knowledge exists only in your head? How would the business perform if you couldn’t work for three months?

Building genuine business value takes 3-5 years of focused effort. This isn’t time wasted—you’re building a better business that’s more profitable, less dependent on you, and more valuable whether you exit in five years or fifteen.

Exit planning isn’t about leaving your business—it’s about building something worth leaving. The most critical question isn’t “When should I exit?” but rather “Am I building something valuable?” Whether you exit in three years or thirty, starting at kilometre zero ensures you’re building value every step of the journey.