To Everything There Is a Season: Exit Planning & Business Lifecycle

Author: Kathryn Guthrie, CBI, CEPA

 

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”

— Ecclesiastes 3:1

 

I’ve always liked Pete Seeger’s 1959 folk song Turn! Turn! Turn! It’s one of those songs that stays with you. But it wasn’t until much later in life that I realized the lyrics were drawn almost entirely from Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3. That passage is as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago, especially if you’re a business owner nearing the end of your career.

 

Selling a business, when it’s done well, is a harvest activity. It frequently belongs to the late summer and early autumn of a business owner’s life. Just like a physical harvest of fruit, grain or vegetables, it’s not something you rush into without planning if you want the best result. It’s something you prepare for. Like any good harvest, the yield is shaped by the care, structure, and choices made in the seasons that came before.

 

The Business Lifecycle in Five Stages

The Exit Planning Institute outlines five stages of business maturity. Each one offers a different focus and a different opportunity to lay the groundwork for a successful exit.

  1. Startup Stage This is all about survival. Cash is tight. Owners are often wearing every hat, from salesperson to bookkeeper to janitor. Exit planning isn’t even on the radar.
  2. Growth Stage Things are moving. Revenue is growing. Employees are being hired. Systems are starting to take shape. This is the point when savvy business owners should begin thinking about their eventual exit and more importantly, about building a company that can thrive without them.
  3. Mature Stage The company is running smoothly. Processes are in place. The owner can (finally) think strategically. This is the ideal time to begin formal exit planning: documenting procedures, delegating leadership, and thinking through the financial, operational, and emotional aspects of a future transition.
  4. Transition Stage Leadership changes are underway. Owners may be preparing the business for sale or actively negotiating terms. If the earlier seasons were well-managed, this phase can go smoothly. If not, it can be rough.
  5. Exit Stage The owner has left. The business moves forward, ideally, with strength, continuity, and a new generation of leadership.

 

What the Seasons Really Look Like

For most Main Street business owners, those five stages feel less like a corporate framework and more like real-life seasons. Here’s how it often plays out:

Spring: The Startup Phase

This is the season of energy and risk. You’re young (or at least bold). You’re planting seeds — long hours, new ideas, and no shortage of uncertainty. You’re doing it all: hiring, selling, sweeping the floor. You’re building something that doesn’t exist yet.

Summer: Growth into Maturity

The business grows. It starts making money. You hire people, build systems, maybe even take a vacation (a short one). The heat is on — you’re busy. But this is also when you should start building the foundation for a future exit. The best exits start long before the deal gets inked.

Autumn: Transition and Harvest

This is when it’s time to reap what you’ve sown. If you’ve built a business that runs without you, attracts talent, and produces consistent cash flow — you’re in a good place. But even in autumn, there’s work to do. You need a plan, a process, and a team.

Winter: Post-Exit

This isn’t just retirement. It’s reinvention and metamorphosis.  Business owners thrive on creating new things and serving. For many entrepreneurs, the winter brings time for mentorship, investment, or a second act (some even become business brokers). Think of it more like hitting the slopes and less like dormancy. The business may no longer be yours — but its legacy, and your impact, live on and you are free to create your own next act (It’s Spring again!)

 

The seasons of business ownership are real. And they come whether we’re ready for them or not. The good news is: with the right planning, you can make the most of each season — and enjoy the harvest when the time comes.

 

If you’re in summer or autumn and want help thinking through what comes next, let’s talk. Contact me at 775-825-9348 or info@libertygroupnv.com to start your plan!