Exits are about balance, plus new podcast alert!
This is a 3 part story - spoiler alert - I’m launching a podcast on EXITS! Before that let's talk about time and money, and their relationship to exits.
It’s been said that time is money….I say yes in some ways, but it misses the mark for me to be 100%.
With money you can spend, save and invest it - I think that covers the total utility of it. Wasting is simply a judgement based on the choice you made to invest, spend or save.
How about time?
Well, you can certainly spend it: on almost anything you desire - but I'd include television, social media, waiting, and ironically - work; As this is what you get paid money for. The exception here is true purpose-based work - "I was sent here to do this".
Invest. Anything that makes your or others' time on earth better. Learning, human connection, being in nature, feeling love, exercising, and so on. I can't think of any others?
So can you save time? If you cut a queue or outsource a function or whatever to 'win time back' - you simply decide to either invest or spend that time you've freed up. Right?
Or, what about meditating? I think this could be the only method of saving time. Science is proving that it extends your life and your quality of life. So, maybe time is money....?
Why this rant when I talk about growth and exits?
Well, I’ve kicked off a podcast, and it's all about exits. Another podcast? Yep, but no one is talking about this in ANZ! I will. I have 10 episodes in “the can” and we’ll be launching properly next week. In one day I was talking to 3 successfully exited founders and freedom of time is a common message.
Knowing how important this is to you is a critical part of the exit process. People get flummoxed by this when negotiating and forget that freedom is a key part of their exit driver.
Imagine a continuum - at one end is money, the other is ‘conditions’. You can slide one way or the other, at the expense of one aspect. In other words, you can’t have all the money with all the favourable conditions. Sorry!
Now one of those conditions will be the earn-out (period the founder must STAY in the business). Prioritising money may be important at the moment as it's so measurable and it can get you stuff! And, it has ego attached to it - if you let it, ego will play an outsize part in your ideal exit.
Exiting a business isn’t just about the money, it’s about finding the right balance between financial reward and the freedom of time and conditions. If you’re scaling your business with an exit in mind, it’s essential to prioritise this balance now, before you’re locked into less favourable terms.
Let’s have a conversation about how you can approach your scaling and exit strategy with a clear view of both time and money. And stay tuned - my new podcast, focused on exits, is launching soon, where we’ll dive deep into these topics. You won’t want to miss it!
Cheers,
Josh
