A collection of ideas that have shaped how I think about succession planning and company exits.

Advisers, buyers and sellers obsess about EBITDA but it doesn't pay the bills

If your business cannot operate without you then all you have built is a job for yourself

Advisers boast about their market reach but at the end of the day you only need one buyer so focus with a shotgun rather than a rifle

Significant value can be won or lost through net debt and normalised working capital but with time this can be managed and maximised

EBITDA is OK as long as there is no Capex, otherwise it needs adjusting

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

Everyone has a view about valuation but the only relevant one is the buyer's

The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.

What gets measured gets managed.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Build a business, not a job. If you can't leave for three months and come back to find it still running, you haven't built a business.

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.

The best time to sell is when you don't have to.

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

Businesses that are sold, not bought, rarely achieve full value.

If your business depends on you, you don't own a business — you have a job.

Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is reality.

The strength of a business is measured not by what it earns, but by what it could earn without its founder.

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

The man who is prepared has his battle half fought.