Having built, led and sold my own business, I understand the commercial realities of preparing for exit. I also know first-hand that an exit is never simply a numbers exercise.
I work with owners of established businesses to bring both sides together: building value and transferability, while getting clear on what they want, what the business can realistically support and what they need to be ready for personally.
Because an exit can look successful on paper and still not be the right outcome for the person behind it.
I started my career in management consulting at Accenture, where I learned early on that a good strategy is only part of the answer. The harder part is turning it into action: making decisions, bringing people with you and keeping momentum when day-to-day business gets in the way.
Before establishing Exit Compass, I spent more than a decade building and running my own e-commerce business, which I successfully sold in 2017. Going through that process gave me a very different perspective on exit. I understood the commercial work involved, but I also experienced the uncertainty, shift in role and recalibration of identity that came with handing over something I had built.
This combination is what sits behind Exit Compass today: helping founders strengthen the business, make better-informed choices and prepare properly for the transition itself, not just the transaction.
The earlier you start preparing, the more time you have to strengthen the business, build value and create options. Preparing for exit doesn’t mean committing to a particular route. It means putting yourself in a stronger position when you eventually need to choose.
You’ve spent years building your business, so of course the financial outcome matters. But value isn’t created at the point of sale. It is built over time through the quality, resilience and future potential of the business.
A business that relies heavily on you is harder to sell, pass on or step back from. Building the people, systems and capability for the business to thrive without you creates freedom long before you actually exit.
There is no single “best” exit. The right route depends on what you want financially, personally and practically, as well as what the business can realistically support.
That is why Exit Compass looks at the business and the owner together. A strong exit is one where the business is ready, the options are real, and the outcome fits the life you want afterwards.
My role isn’t simply to help you think about how you feel about exit, nor to replicate the specialist work of valuers, accountants, lawyers, corporate finance advisers or brokers.
I sit alongside those disciplines, helping you see the whole picture, decide what matters most and lead the changes needed to strengthen your position. That might mean reducing owner dependency, developing the leadership team, improving systems, addressing customer concentration or working through succession choices.
And because I’m not selling your business and my fee doesn’t depend on a transaction happening, the focus stays on the outcome that is right for you and the business.
I combine commercial thinking with warmth and constructive challenge. I’ll test assumptions, bring different perspectives and ask the questions that help you see what you may be missing, always with the aim of helping you make better decisions and move forward with greater clarity.
Founders don’t always have many places where they can say what they really think. You may need to look confident and certain with employees, advisers and others around you, while privately questioning ideas, weighing risks or wondering whether you are making the right call. I create a confidential space where you can think openly, test ideas and work through uncertainty, then turn that thinking into practical action.
Alongside my business and consulting experience, I’m an EMCC-accredited Senior Practitioner and hold the ILM Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Executive Coaching & Mentoring. I also work as an associate executive coach with the Financial Times.
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If you know you will eventually exit but are not yet sure how, when or what needs to change first, the Exit Readiness Assessment is a useful place to begin.
It will show you where you and your business stand today, what is already strong and where focusing your attention could strengthen your future options.
Receive your personal Exit Readiness Map.