What does Grow or Go mean?
SHORT ANSWER
"Go" means the business is ready and so are you: the value is where it needs to be, the market is right, and waiting won't add enough to be worth it. "Grow" means there's real value still on the table, and improving it before you sell could meaningfully change what you walk away with.
Grow doesn’t necessarily mean to continue what you are currently doing with your business but rather a strategic plan to increase your market value along with date cycles and a team holding you to it. On that same note, Go doesn't mean to put your business up for sale in the market right away, it means preparing the business properly and running a real process.
How do you know whether to Grow or Go?
SHORT ANSWER
You would know this by fist running three tests that cover your personal readiness to exit, your long-term financial goals, and the possibility of your business value increasing in the future.
Here is a breakdown of what that means:
- The value test: Could the value be materially improved in three years or less? If yes, growing first deserves a serious look.
- The Freedom Gap test: Does the likely sale price close your Freedom Gap? If the number won't fund the life you want, going now locks in a shortfall and is probably the best option.
- The personal test: Are you ready personally? A business can be ready when the owner isn't, and that shows up at the negotiating table.
Timing is the fourth question underneath all three: is the timing right, for the business, for you and for the market?
What is the Freedom Gap?
The Freedom Gap is the distance between the business you built and the financial freedom you set out to create. Its financial side is simple it is calculated by subtracting what your business currently worth from your desired financial future lifestyle needs.
If the life you want needs 8 million dollars and the business is worth 4.5M today, your gap is 3.5 million. It has a freedom side too: If it is difficult to run the business without your day-to-day involvement, you still have a gap regardless of whether the financial numbers look good. This inseparability between you and your business might compromise your business’ value in the eyes of a buyer.
What happens if you choose Go?
SHORT ANSWER
Go means preparing the business properly and running a real process. This includes building a legit buyer pool, because competitive tension is what moves price, and running Expressions of Interest before any letter of intent, so you keep your leverage. It certainly does not mean listing the business the next day and taking the first offer put at the table.
The full process, from preparation to closing, usually takes about 12 months. See how to sell a business in Canada: the 12-month playbook.
What happens if you choose Grow?
SHORT ANSWER
Grow means a dated plan with named owners, and us holding you to it. The work that meaningfully moves a business' value usually takes about three years: reducing owner dependency, building recurring revenue, diversifying customers, and cleaning up the numbers.
Planning early is not the same as committing to sell. All the preparations you commit to will only make the business better to own today. Matter of fact, many owners who start planning end up keeping the business longer, because it finally runs the way they always wanted it to.
For the drivers buyers look at most closely, see what buyers check before buying a business in Canada.
Why is "someday" the real trap?
Because many owners never choose; they drift, the business ages, the owner gets tired, and the decision gets made by a health scare, personal circumstances or a buyer's timeline. You'll often know within one honest conversation and identify that the owners who struggle didn’t necessarily make the wrong decision but are the one’s who never picked. With our Go or Grow approach, either answer is a good outcome. Nothing obliges you to sell and standing still is not an option.
What this means for you
Go or Grow is a decision, not a feeling. Make it with real numbers that tell you what the business is worth, what you need, and what three focused years could change. Then use these steps:
- Find out what the business is worth to a buyer today.
- Work out what you need: what the sale must deliver, after tax and fees, to fund the life you want.
- Ask yourself the personal question: if your business ran without you for six months, what would your life look like?
- If you choose grow, put a date on the calendar to ask the question again, this time with new numbers in front of you.