poised for exit

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” – Rosa Parks (1)

Julie Keyes is a frequently featured expert and thought leader across RFN platforms. As a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), and a life-long entrepreneur, she is a veritable font of wisdom. Her self-described mission is to help unpack the mystery of exit planning, explain the process and provide a road map for succession that owners can understand, and advisors can implement.

Cue Poised for Exit, Julie’s first book. At 121 pages, it is a quick read that doubles as a mighty guide to business transition for the woman entrepreneur. Prior to writing it, Julie realized there was a distinct lack of educational information by women, for women, concerning how to exit a business gracefully. This is a problem considering how, “as of 2017, more than 11.6 million firms [were] owned by women in the United States, which generate[d] over $1.7 trillion in annual sales.” (2)

It's an established fact the United States and Canada are facing a business disruption crisis. In the U.S., there are roughly 11 million baby boomer business owners forecast to exit their businesses in the coming years, and “79 percent of small business owners have no written transition plan.” (3) Poised for Exit addresses the problem of many women owners not knowing when or how or where to turn for good exit planning advice. The reality though is many advisors are also unsure of how to meet the needs of their women clientele. This means there is a disparity of good support available to women business owners, compared to their male counterparts.

Advisors who are unsure of how business ownership might differ because of gendered experience, will find value in reading Poised for Exit. Through personal and professional anecdotes, Julie draws attention to the ways women shoulder the societal pressure of being expected to successfully “do it all”. The definition of what “all” means varies between cultures, generations and of course, between unique individuals.

However, one common gendered experience is the phenomenon of unpaid labour. Essentially, this refers to the disproportionate amount of time and effort women put into care work – everything needed to manage a household and raise children – which ultimately, reduces the amount of time, energy and opportunity women have to engage in other kinds of paid work and activities.

Julie walks us through the highs and lows of her personal experience with doing it all – managing multiple businesses, being a business coach and speaker, a mother to four children and a wife, all while battling self-doubt and uncertainty. She reveals the struggles her clients faced and offers valuable insights into how and why their approaches to exit planning were or weren’t successful. Most importantly, in drawing attention to the fact women entrepreneurs tend to approach business ownership differently than men, Julie reminds readers – especially those who happen to be advisors – of the heavy expectations placed on women, internally and externally, and why they often get in the way of the exit planning process.

Throughout, Julie strikes a comfortable balance between personal experience, professional case studies and generative resources owners and advisors alike, will glean value from. Each chapter is rounded out with a checklist of takeaways to consider, moving statistics and heartening quotes encouraging readers to be confident in themselves, their business and the planning (and success) they are undoubtedly capable of.

In Julie’s words, “this book is intended to raise the consciousness of women who own and run their own companies but are unclear what a successful exit entails, who’s involved, and what exit options might be available to them.”(4) At RFN, we believe the beauty of Poised for Exit is it speaks to both sides of the business disruption equation, the owner and the advisor, both looking for where to begin or how to improve. Entrepreneurial women will leave this read feeling reassured that no matter what, they are enough. (5)

A second edition of Poised for Exit is now available! In addition to updated content, you can expect several new or improved resources from this latest version. To get your copy of Julie’s book and all of the helpful checklists and resources within, visit her website.

1 Poised for Exit. (10)

2 The 2017 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report. (11)

3 Exit Planning Institute. “2017 State of Business Owner Readiness Survey for the Twin Cities Metro Area”. Exit Planning Institute, 2017. (47)

4 Poised for Exit. (4)

5 Poised for Exit. (87)