An Alternative Exit Plan if Selling Isn’t an Option (Yet)

Just the past week, I’ve seen 5(!) people announcing they’re quitting their businesses. One of them is transitioning to a full-time position. Another one is sort of influencing, sort of writing (or at least experimenting with both to see what happens). 

And this week is not an exception. It feels like every week, there’s at least one or two. And those are just the ones making a public declaration—it doesn’t account for the likely more who are quiet quitting or just stepping away. 

And I don’t know about you, but it always gives me a moment of pause. Am I foolish for sticking with this? Do they see something I don’t see around the corner? Should I get out while I still can?

Because while business is good, business isn’t exactly easy. 

I can’t say for certain whether it’s harder or not than previous times but the hard has become different. There are more people in the online business space which creates more opportunities, more resources, more community. But it can also feel more challenging to get your message to stand out. Algorithms change rapidly which means you’ve got to be flexible because as soon as something starts to work, that means it’s probably going to change soon. 

10 Common Reasons for Wanting to Exit Your Business

While you might have your own reasons for wanting to exit-stage-left on your business, here’s a list of the ones I’ve seen shared by those leaving:

1. Disillusioned with the online space and over-inflated income claims that don’t align with their experience
2. Wanting to be able to leave your work at work by getting hired for a good ‘ole 9-to-5 job
3. Being head-hunted for a great opportunity in a 9-to-5 that’s too good to pass up
4. Selling their business
5. Taking a hiatus to spend more time with their families
6. Shutting down one business to start another (usually with a completely different business model)
7. Wanting to do something creative (while getting paid for it) like writing novels or painting
8. Going back to school
9. Taking a pause indefinitely to figure out what they want to do next (like a sabbatical)
10. Starting to freelance for agencies or larger clients who bring them work versus being responsible for finding and managing it themselves

What are some options if you want to shut down your business?

So what are your options when it’s time to walk away? 

• You could simply shut it down (don’t renew your website, turn on an autoresponder, let people know)
• You could sell your business (there are brokers who can help you see what the steps would be and it your business is viable for selling)
• You could hire people to run the business for you and minimize your involvement (as long as the sales will cover the expense)
• You could quiet quit (put on an autoresponder letting people know you’re on a pause and leave it while you decide on your next move). 

But while all of these are options that might be right for you, I have another option that’ll help you step away AND still help you get value from the assets you’ve created as part of that business: 

Use the Minimalist Content System as a content exit plan. 

An Alternative Exit Plan: The Minimalist Content System

My favourite option (and the one I hope you’ll consider if you find yourself in a “want to leave” situation) is using the Minimalist Content System as a content exit plan. In a nutshell, it helps you group your existing content assets into content campaigns, schedule them out ahead of time and intersperse them with sales invitations. You can choose whether to use the strategy for just your internal channel (email) or internally and externally (social media). 

Over the past year, this is one of the main things we’ve been hired to build out for business owners who are eager to step away but don’t want to “burn their businesses to the ground” and who see leverageable value in the content they’ve previously created.  

I’ve also started teaching this strategy, providing step by step templates and processes in my on-demand program, The Minimalist Content System. 

How to get started with the Minimalist Content System as an exit plan

Here’s a 8-step implementation plan (the high-level steps): 

• Take stock of your paid offers and decide which ones you want to sell (exclude any that require any of your direct involvement)
• For each of these paid offers, go through your past content and make a list of pieces that are related to each offer. 
• For each of these paid offers, pull all of your sales messaging and emails. Create extras if needed. 
• Form your content campaigns: Nurture phases (4ish weekly emails that link to blog posts) and sales phases (1-2 week sales invitation campaigns that sell your offer)
• How many content campaigns do you have? Plot out at least 12 months of emails
• Decide if you want to publish content externally (on social platforms) as well. If yes, pull social media posts that accompany your content campaign blog posts and plot out into weekly social campaigns. 
• Build automated email campaigns. 
• Schedule social media (optional)

Want some help getting your offer(s) ready for your minimalist content system?

This free on-demand workshop will help you choose your offers, prepare your sales messaging and invitation emails. Sign up here ↓