The question is not whether you will exit your business. The question is whether that exit will be on your terms.

THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW YOU WILL EXIT YOUR BUSINESS IS NOT WHEN YOU ARE FACED WITH A CRISIS, START 2-5 YEARS BEFORE YOU PLAN TO EXIT.

For most Australian business owners, exit planning is perpetually deferred — there is always another quarter, another reason to push the conversation out. Yet the decisions that shape your financial return, your tax position, your superannuation strategy, and your legacy deliver their best result only when made with time and clarity, not under pressure at the last minute.

This workbook changes that.

A hands-on planning tool built specifically for Australian business owners, the Australian Business Exit Planner & Workbook guides you through a structured five-step exit planning process, followed by a four-part Diagnostic Toolkit — all designed to be written in, reflected on, and built into a coherent, personalised exit strategy you can actually use.

What you will work through:

• Step 1 — Clarify Your Exit Direction: Understand and compare seven exit models — trade sale, insider sale, vendor finance, management buy-in, hybrid approaches, and more — and identify which aligns with your goals and circumstances.
• Step 2 — Identify the Key People: Map the advisors, family members, successors, and team members who will influence or be impacted by your transition.
• Step 3 — Decide How You Will Transition: Define how decisions will be made, how knowledge will be transferred, and how your transition will be communicated.
• Step 4 — Choose Your Timeline: Set a realistic exit timeline with key milestones that support preparation rather than reactive urgency.
• Step 5 — Summarise Your Exit Strategy: Bring all areas together into a single integrated plan, including a one-sentence exit direction statement.

The Diagnostic Toolkit includes:

• Exit Readiness Self-Assessment — scored across ten readiness domains
• Owner Dependency Audit — identify what your personal dependency is costing you in sale value
• Vendor Finance Worksheet — evaluate whether a staged payment exit structure suits your situation
• Exit Timing Decision Framework — assess whether now is the right time to transact, or whether preparation will produce a stronger result

Written specifically for the Australian context — with direct reference to CGT implications, superannuation timing, the Small Business CGT Concessions, and ATO-approved payment structures.

Exiting well is not simply a financial exercise. It is an act of leadership. It is the final strategic move of your business career, and it deserves the same intentionality you brought to building the business in the first place.