Most exit plans fail the same way New Year’s resolutions fail: strong intent, weak execution. Owners often treat exit planning like a one-time document—something to draft, file away, and “get back to later.” But a real exit plan isn’t paperwork; it’s an operating system that runs inside the business every week, shaping decisions, priorities, and accountability long before a buyer ever shows up.

In this episode, we unpack the predictable breakdowns that quietly kill value: starting too late, planning only after a life trigger or market scare, assuming you can “clean things up” when needed, and trying to manage readiness without metrics. Buyers don’t pay premiums for potential—they pay for proof. If transferability, customer concentration, predictability, and owner dependency aren’t measured and owned by specific people, the plan becomes opinions and vibes, and diligence turns late fixes into discounts, holdbacks, and tougher deal terms.

We then turn the solution into a practical cadence: convert exit planning into quarterly priorities, weekly actions, and monthly reporting that builds buyer-grade evidence over a 3–5 year rhythm. You’ll hear a simple readiness scoreboard you can track monthly, how to assign clear ownership to each risk category, and why consistent “downward risk trends” matter more than a perfect snapshot. The takeaway is simple: your exit plan doesn’t fail during the sale—it fails in the weeks you don’t execute.

📚 FRAMEWORKS MENTIONED: - SELL Framework (Revenue Quality): https://scottsylvanbell.com/sell-framework - SCALE Framework (Operational Readiness): https://scottsylvanbell.com/scale-framework - DRIVER Test (Execution Capability): https://scottsylvanbell.com/driver-test - EXIT Framework (Timing Assessment): https://scottsylvanbell.com/exit-framework

🔗 EPISODE RESOURCES: - Full Transcript: https://scottsylvanbell.com/podcast/how-buyer-confidence-built - Download Free Frameworks: https://scottsylvanbell.com - Subscribe to Newsletter: https://scottsylvanbell.com

🎙️ ABOUT THE HOST: Scott Sylvan Bell is a business growth and exit strategist specializing in $10M-$250M companies. Scott delivers strategic frameworks for revenue optimization, operational scaling, and enterprise value maximization.

Author of 5 books and creator of the SELL Framework, SCALE Framework, DRIVER Test, and EXIT Framework.

📱 CONNECT: - Website: https://scottsylvanbell.com - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/scottsylvanbell - YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ScottSylvanBellBusinessGrowthExitStrategy

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