3/28/2000
An "exit strategy" may sound like something only the ready-to-retire entrepreneur needs to know about. But think again. The right time to establish an exit strategy, says Engel, is at the start of a business. "Simply put, every aspect of strategic business thinking should be illuminated by what the owner plans to do with the business." He describes seven basic exit strategies — including such options as selling to your heirs, going public, or liquidating your assets — and variations within them. "Every step of the process of forming and running a business is clearer and easier to take," writes Engel, "if you know precisely what you plan to do with the business in the end."