Succession and exit planning support in Adelaide

• You want out inside 3 to 5 years, and every decision in the business still comes through you.
• A son or daughter might take it on, and nobody in the family has said it out loud yet.
• Somebody has asked whether you'd sell, and you had no idea what to say back.
• Most of what the business knows how to do is in your head and written down nowhere.
• You've been meaning to step back for 4 years and you're still there 5 days a week.
• The person you'd hand it to isn't ready, and you haven't told them that.

1. 01

   A written map of what depends on you

   Every decision, relationship, password, quote approval and supplier conversation that currently has to pass through 1 person. Owners consistently underestimate this list, and seeing it written down is usually the moment the timeline becomes realistic rather than aspirational.

2. 02

   The second line of management

   Who would run the place on a Tuesday if you weren't there, what they're currently allowed to decide, and what would have to change for you to back their judgement without checking. This is normally the longest piece of work and the one that can't be rushed at the end.

3. 03

   Writing down how the work actually gets done

   How a job is quoted, how it's scheduled, how a complaint is handled, what happens when a customer asks for a variation. Not a manual nobody reads: the 15 or 20 sequences the business genuinely runs on, in whatever form the team will actually use.

4. 04

   Making the numbers legible to somebody else

   A coach helps you understand and question your own figures so a buyer, a bank or a family member can read them without you sitting beside them explaining. Preparing and presenting the accounts themselves is your accountant's work, and a coach should say so.

5. 05

   The relationships that live in your phone

   The customers who deal with you personally, the supplier who gives you a price nobody else gets, the referrer who has sent you work for 12 years. Working out which of those can be transferred, to whom, and over what period, because that transfer takes seasons rather than weeks.

6. 06

   What you actually want next

   The question most owners skip, and the one that derails handovers late. Whether you want out entirely or want to keep 2 days, what you'd do with the time, what the business has to produce for you afterwards, and whether the person taking over knows any of that.

7. 07

   A sequence with dates on it

   What happens this quarter, what happens this year, and what has to be true before the next step starts. Then a regular conversation asking what moved and what didn't, which is the difference between a plan and a folder.

1. 1

   You tell me what's going on

   A short form: your industry, how many people work in the business, what you want to change, and roughly what you can spend. It takes about 3 minutes.

2. 2

   I read it and check the network

   I read every enquiry myself. I look for coaches whose actual background fits your industry, your size and the problem you've described. If nobody in the network works on it, I'll tell you that.

3. 3

   I tell you who and what they charge

   Before any introduction, you get the coach's background and their current fee band. You decide whether you want the introduction made.

4. 4

   Up to 3 coaches get in touch

   I pass your details to up to 3 coaches in the network, and only after you've ticked the consent box. You take a first conversation with whoever you want to, and you're under no obligation to go further.

The full version, including the 13 things checked before a coach joins the network, is on the how it works page.