This volume shows the owners of private businesses how to plan for the most important event in their business lives - a successful exit from their businesses. It is written from the owner's point of view, seeking to bring together in one place all you need to know about planning for this key event. The author emphasizes the need to place exit planning on a firm foundation, with taxation planning and business continuity planning providing the basis to ensure a smooth transition that will yield the maximum return. The first three parts of the book ("Laying the Foundations", "Choosing your Exit Strategy" and "Preparing and Implementing your Plans") present a best practice approach to this complex subject. Importantly the need to plan, often several years in advance, is highlighted as is the need to make the business "investor ready" by identifying and removing impediments to sale. Part III culminates in a step-by-step guide to producing and implementing your Master Exit Strategy Plan. Following on from this the extensive appendices in Part IV discuss in detail each of the exit options open to you and show how to choose the optimum exit route.