As many of you know, I’ve facilitated numerous ISM programs specific to business planning.

This year we’ve been fortunate to support several organizations launch capital-ready programs.

In last week’s blog I discussed exit strategies, and have since been asked to share one of the specific strategies I personally used to help someone exit their business.

One thing I’ve learned, dealing with people and businesses coming and going since the 1990s, is that it’s a good idea to explore options before you make the decision to exit your business. In my experience, this conversation generally happens in your own head.

“The little things are what makes a company unique or different. From a high level, many companies might look identical or competitive with each other. But once you zoom in, what makes an entrepreneur, startup, or business owner stand out are the little things they are doing differently in the day-to-day operations.”

“Every successful cook knows that the first step in creating a masterpiece is what the French call “mise en place” (essentially, everything in place), the steps of preparing to cook, which we will adapt to preparing a pitch.”

“Simply moving forward allows you to just keep going — because you aren’t really taking the time to think about what happened, when or why it happened, or at least having some understanding of what worked or didn’t.”

“We all know ideas are worthless unless you implement them. Implementation is where (as we say in Detroit) the rubber meets the road. When reality hits, you still have to adjust or adapt to make sure the product or service is meeting the customer demand or desire.”

“The key from this discussion is to understand that good questions coupled with experience can help us create new opportunities.” -Faris Alami