What’s Your Exit Strategy? | Global Shared Services

January 7, 2019

When you’re running a franchise restaurant, it can be easy to get caught up in the day to day processes and forget to look ahead to the future. After all, when you’re bombarded with questions from employees, keeping up with constant paperwork, and working out the everyday kinks in any small business, it can often feel like there isn’t time for the future. But as any virtual CFO will tell you, planning out the future of your business is hugely important.

We all want our businesses to grow. But what happens when you’ve achieved the growth you’ve wanted and are getting ready to move to bigger opportunities? Or someone who’s interested in buying your franchise restaurant comes knocking on your door? Have you included an exit strategy in the future of your business?

A virtual CFO can help you figure out when it’s best to sell. But for now, let’s take a look at the benefits of operating as though you were going to sell- even if selling is far off in the future.

Be Ready for Any Opportunity

One of the many good things in life is its unpredictability. You never know what the future holds or who’s going to knock on your door next. But that also means you need to be ready for any opportunity. What would you do if someone knocked on the door of your restaurant and offered to buy you out for a tidy sum?

Part of being a franchise restaurant owner is being ready for any opportunity that comes your way. After all, everyone has a number that they can’t say no to. A virtual CFO can help you be prepared for the future- whether you’re prepared for it or not.

A virtual CFO’s job is to plan out the financial future of your business. Sometimes, that means incorporating an exit strategy as well. At what point will you sell your business? When do you want to retire? When are your restaurant’s finances good enough to tempt future investors?

All of these questions are important things to ask when planning for the future. A virtual CFO can help you answer them.

Know What Your Business is Worth

If someone had you put a number on it right now, would you know what your business is worth? Understanding the market value of your business can help you shape your company’s positioning.

It’s easy to become entrenched in your own echo chamber when running a franchise restaurant. Owners can become caught up in the day to day and focus in on their own perception of their restaurant. Understanding the market value of your franchise restaurant can get you out of your echo chamber and viewing your business through a fresh viewpoint.

A virtual CFO can help you understand exactly what your business is worth. But if you’d like to get a general idea, there are a few factors you can take a close look at. How many years are left on your franchise agreement? This can provide value if you have a particularly good franchise agreement with plenty of time left for the new owner to enjoy. However, if the new owner feels your franchise agreement is below average or not up to their standards, the value of your restaurant can decrease.

What’s your customer demographic? Condition of your building and equipment? How has your restaurant been performing? A franchise restaurant with a good performance history will be worth more than one that’s had its ups and downs.

Smooth Out Operations

When you operate as though you’re going to sell your business, you develop repeatable processes that become ingrained in restaurant operations. This makes it easy for the new owner to take over the reins and for employees to adjust to new leadership. Business operations that are smooth, scalable, and easily learned adds value to your franchise restaurant by accentuating the simplicity of a leadership transition.

Part of smoothing out your operations involves keeping meticulous track of your records. Sure, if your books are a little messy it may not be a big deal because after all, you understand them. But when you’re getting your franchise restaurant ready to go on market, suddenly you’re not the only one who could be going through your records.

Meticulously kept books not only benefit your business now, but they also benefit the future owner. Keeping track of the details means that you don’t miss any potential red flags in your restaurant’s finances and the future owner has a complete history of the financial past of the restaurant.

A virtual CFO can guide you through best practices for organizing your books for future use. However, when you outsource all of your accounting, you won’t have to worry about organizing your books. GSS prides itself on outsourced accounting for franchise restaurants. We provide high quality accounting services and handle the details of your F&A- so you don’t have to.

Plan for the Future

Planning for the future can be tough. A virtual CFO can guide you through the choices you’ll need to make when considering your exit strategy, the future of your franchise restaurant, and exactly when you should consider selling. Best of all, a virtual CFO can help you plan for the future today. Understanding your franchise restaurant’s value, positioning in the market, the trends of the industry, all of that falls under the umbrella of a virtual CFO’s expertise.

Here at Global Shared Services, we believe we’re here to serve you. Our job is to make high quality expertise available to franchise restaurants just like yours. We provide high-performance, end-to-end virtual CFO services you can trust, delivered by an expert consultant and tailored to the needs of your business. Choosing our CFO service gives your restaurant business the financial insight you need to scale through operational efficiencies and effective decisions, without unnecessary overhead or risk.

When you’re ready to look ahead and see what’s on the horizon for your franchise restaurant, give us a call today.

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