Many business owners are either overwhelmed with the thought of exiting, or are so busy fighting daily business fires that they think they cannot plan their exits. "I haven't decided what I actually want to do with my firm, or how much money I'll need, or when I want to exit, so how can I plan my retirement? Besides, I don't want to exit right now." If you've thought this, or said this, you are not alone.

You may be deciding to settle for a less than the most profitable exit for yourself and for your family if you take a half-hearted approach toward the irrefutable fact that -one way or another- you will leave your company. As Winston Churchill said, "I never worry about action, but only about inaction". Know that in your indecision, you are making a decision.

Why can't you just wait? If you are an entrepreneur who isn't sure about what you want, or when you want to leave, then why is it so critical to decide to act today?

First of all, it sometimes takes as long as 5 years (most of those years will be spent preparing the business for the transfer) to transfer a company for top money. If you decide to leave it to employees or children (two groups who rarely have any assets), they'll need that time to make the money to pay you for your share.

Allowing more time can let you design and implement income tax-saving strategies, build value, strengthen your management team, and start a gradual transfer of ownership (not control) to family, or to key workers.

You probably won't have time to implement these strategies if you wait too long, and you'll likely end up getting less for your business.

The market may not be paying the best prices when you are ready to sell to another party, and may not operate on your schedule. Activity could be non-existent in many business sectors. Remember the state of the Mergers and Acquisitions market in 2008 and 2009.

If you're planning on leaving your company one day, why not decide to develop the right exit strategy and plan accordingly? Start today, and take these steps to secure your future.

1. Create an exit planning team to create a plan with accountability for decisions and deadlines.

2. Work with a financial professional to determine your financial needs.

3. Determine an exit date.

4.. Decide whom you want to succeed the business.

5. Have your business valued to see if: a) you should sell/transition today; and/or b) it has the value necessary to meet your financial and other exit objectives.

The success of your business exit is just too important to you, your family, and your workers to ignore. Why wait? The failure to act can potentially be fatal to a profitable exit. Deciding to do something now will create the best possible retirement path.