Poised for Exit
Welcome to the Poised for Exit podcast! Poised for Exit is an under 30-minute strategic planning guidance podcast for busy small business owners. Each week you’ll hear certified exit planning advisor, Julie Keyes, talk with a range of entrepreneurs and professionals about preparing your business for a future transition. Guests at every stage of company ownership will share their personal stories and lessons learned about topics such as the anatomy of the exit planning process, developing a growth strategy, how to sell on your terms, exit planning for women small business owners, handling business diversity, and how to sell a family business. Whether you’re planning an exit in the near future or not, this show will provide you with the same action-oriented content that Julie utilizes while consulting with Keyestrategies clients. Building an exit strategy can be overwhelming, especially with all the decisions and details you have to consider. “Poised for Exit” will simplify the process and help you unwrap the unknowns, giving you more confidence in your planning process. Previous episodes are available for download, so if you are new to our show, you can listen to them in any order that suits you. Join us each week for timely, relevant content that will surely impact your business exit outcome! Subscribe to our newsletter below to receive your weekly episode link and stay updated on new strategic planning content. Find “Poised for Exit” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and others. Thank you to our Sponsors: Sunbelt Business Advisers and JAK CPA's. A special note of thanks to Tyler Keyes who produced the music for the “Poised for Exit” show.
Poised for Exit
What Makes a Business Sellable
In this week’s episode of Poised for Exit, we sit down with Jacob Petersen, a board-certified M&A intermediary who breaks down what really makes a business attractive to buyers.
Jacob shares his journey from accounting to business brokerage and explains how he helps privately held business owners understand and increase the value of their companies.
The conversation explores key valuation concepts like Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE) and EBITDA, with Jacob explaining how each is used and what they reveal about a company’s true cash flow. He also clears up common misconceptions about intangible assets and why strong documentation is essential.
Jacob highlights the importance of clean financials, realistic forecasting, and reducing owner dependency. He shares real-life success stories, including one where a business with minimal hard assets sold for over 2.5 million thanks to strong systems and diverse customers.
If you are a business owner thinking about selling or just want to increase your company’s value, this episode offers practical advice and powerful takeaways to help you build a more sellable business.
Find Jacob here
Connect with Julie Keyes, Keyestrategies LLC
Founder, Consultant, Author, Pod-caster and Instructor
Ho for Exit is a show for business owners who want to achieve a successful exit based on their own terms. Your business exit will likely be the biggest financial transaction of your life, and for most. You'll have one shot at doing it right. The topics and guests we feature and the stories they share will provide valuable ideas and strategies to improve operations and grow enterprise value so you can achieve the best possible exit outcome. Now here's your host Award-winning certified exit planning advisor, Julie Keys.