the EXIT strategy

I have always thought the exit strategy is THE most important part of the strategy formulation. It is the part that tells me when is it time to move on, let go, cash in, count my blessings, which ever way you like to think of it.

But what makes the exit strategy so interesting is the fact that I know the exact metric associated with this key milestone.

I knew the opportunity when I started but the exit strategy tells me if I am realizing against this opportunity or NOT? It is absolutely paramount to track but more so to detach the emotions associated with the decision… as much as stopping to ask for directions when we lost, to discontinuing a brand, to pulling out of a market or even selling off a business.

I start each day with a plan and end it netting against my exit strategy. Be it with my work, my life and everything else around me.

Premature exit is not just expensive but plain and simple stupid. Just think if you were headed from New York to Los Angeles to start an acting career and gave up on the first wrong turn you made that put you on the way to Boston instead.

The individual who formulates the strategy MUST formulate the exit strategy as well. He or she should also define how to MEASURE success or failure along the way.