Exit Readiness: The 12-Month Preparation Guide

A month-by-month action plan for business owners who want to maximize value and minimize surprises when they sell.

Most business owners spend decades building value — but only weeks thinking about how to capture it. The owners who get the best deals aren’t necessarily running the biggest businesses. They’re the ones who prepare. This guide gives you a structured, 12-month roadmap to get your business (and yourself) ready for a successful exit.

What’s Inside

Months 1–3: Assessment and Foundation

Honest evaluation of where you stand today. Financial cleanup and documentation standards, owner dependency assessment, management team evaluation, and setting your exit readiness baseline.

Months 4–6: Building Management Depth

The single biggest value driver in the lower middle market: proving your business runs without you. Delegation frameworks, successor development, and key employee retention strategies.

Months 7–9: Operational Excellence

Process documentation, customer diversification, revenue quality improvement, and building the operational infrastructure buyers want to see.

Months 10–12: Market Preparation

Engaging an M&A advisor, building your data room, developing your investment thesis, and positioning for the competitive process that drives premium valuations.

Plus: A comprehensive Exit Readiness Checklist covering financial, operational, management, legal, and market readiness — with specific items you can start checking off today.

Who This Guide Is For

This guide is for business owners with $3M–$50M in revenue who are considering an exit within the next 1–5 years. Whether you’re planning to sell next year or just want to build a more valuable, transferable business, this 12-month framework applies. The best time to start preparing was three years ago. The second best time is now.

About the Author

Daniel Askew is the Founder and CEO of Icon Business Advisors, a Nashville-based M&A advisory firm built for lower middle market business owners. Having guided owners through the exit preparation process firsthand, Daniel created this guide to give business owners a clear, actionable roadmap — not vague advice about “getting your house in order.”