Are you looking for a business exit? If you’re thinking about selling your business, or you want it to run without you, don’t rely on hope. Rely on a plan. A clear, commercial, future-focused plan that protects value, reduces risk, and gives you personal freedom.
That’s where I come in. I’m James Akin-Smith, The CEO Coach, and I bring the rare combination of hands-on business building experience – six successful ventures – and 14+ years of dedicated coaching to business leaders like you. With 10,000+ hours of seasoned counsel and recognition as a top 3% global Business Coach, you get a trusted advisor who’s seen what works (and what doesn’t) across multiple ventures and industries.
The value? A partner who provides commercial clarity, acts as your external pair of eyes, and helps you make confident decisions that moves your business exit forward, from hands-on to hands-free, protecting what you’ve built while creating the freedom you want.
Here’s how it works.
Start with what you want
Before we touch spreadsheets or org charts, we get honest about outcomes. What do you want from a business exit or succession, financially and personally? What does personal freedom look like for you? Six months off? A portfolio of ventures? A chair role? We’ll set a timeframe and turn it into certainty of direction.
I run a focused Business Exit & Succession Workshop to create that clarity. In it, we answer four big questions:
- What do you want?
- What needs to happen inside the business to get it?
- What do you want for yourself next?
- What’s the realistic timeframe?
When we speak it out loud, you’ll hear whether an idea is brilliant or not. Either way, you get clarity fast. As I tell clients, Say it out loud. Either the idea is brilliant, or we bin it and move on. No judgement.
Numbers first: protect value, find upside
Early in my career, I learned the hard way that ignoring the numbers is a terrible strategy. I liken ignoring finances to flying a jumbo jet with all the instruments blanked out. Since then, I’ve been obsessed with the scorecard. Not because it’s academic, but because it’s tangible, empirical, and result-driven. The numbers reveal risk. They also reveal opportunity.
Together we’ll build a simple, proven financial rhythm: monthly reporting you actually read, margin maps, cash drivers, pipeline reality, customer concentration, working-capital hygiene. Commercial clarity, not noise. You don’t have to love spreadsheets. You just need to use them to make better choices. And remember my favourite truth: profitable sales fix everything.
Build a management team that doesn’t need you
Buyers pay more for owner-independent businesses. And if you want to step back without selling, a strong leadership team is still your best route to peace of mind.
That might mean bringing in your first MD, uplevelling your senior leadership team, or redefining roles so the right people are in the right seats. It also means you unlearn habits that no longer serve you. As the saying goes, ‘what got you here won’t get you there’. When the business was small, your hands were on the rope and tiller. As it grows, your job is to look out of the boat, future-focused, scanning the horizon, setting vision, and creating certainty of direction, while your team runs the operating system.
Many owners ask, “If I stay hands-on, should I hire a CEO?” Absolutely. If that’s your best path to value and personal freedom. We’ll define your new role so you don’t drift. Stretching ambition is part of this: we challenge vision, clarify strategy, and set high aspirations, then we install the weekly cadence to deliver.
Culture, communication, and confidence
Culture isn’t posters on the wall. It’s how you behave. Teams mirror leaders. If you’re grumpy, short-tempered, or dumping anxiety on people, they’ll copy it and performance falls. So here’s my rule: if you need to vent, dump on me, your confidential, impartial, non-judgemental sounding board. Then lead your team with calm, accurate, truthful communication.
Internal communication breaks down as businesses scale. Silos creep in. WhatsApp isn’t a strategy. Big change needs clear, personal, respectful messages. When culture, communication, and cadence improve, teams engage, customers feel it, and buyers notice it. That’s substantive, not fluffy. It’s commercially aware and proves the business can thrive without you in the room.
Timing matters. Windows open and close
I’ve built software, distribution, contract cleaning, e-commerce businesses, some ahead of their time. The lesson? Being early is just as bad as being late in business, especially where a business exit is concerned. Opportunities have a window. Business exit windows open and close, too. Markets move. Multiples change. Lenders tighten. You don’t control the tide, but you do control your readiness. That’s why we prepare diligence early: contracts, IP, people, compliance, MI, customer health, product roadmaps, SOPs. A tidy data room de-risks the deal and keeps your price intact.
And a reality check: a business exit is a second job. The paperwork is heavy. As I tell clients, you must keep trading strong while you prepare as buyers can smell distraction. We’ll build the plan so you stay laser-focused on revenue, margin, and momentum.
It’s lonely at the top, so don’t do this alone
I remember 2007, head in hands, needing an external pair of eyes. I needed to unpack the business with someone who didn’t have an axe to grind. That’s why I do this work. I provide seasoned counsel, a fresh perspective, and unwavering support. I spot the elephants in the room, good or bad, and give you the confidence to act. Clients often tell me that one conversation saves months of trial and error. Lessons learned, yours and mine, let us unlock potential faster.
Your roadmap: Time, Team, Money
Everything we do rolls up into three levers:
- Time: create thinking time for strategy; step out of the weeds; install a cadence that frees you.
- Team: put the right people in the right seats; define roles; hire or develop leaders; install accountability.
- Money: drive profitable sales; protect margin; manage cash; build a business buyers trust.
Get these right and the business becomes owner-independent, resilient, and ready, whether you sell or step back.
Ready to move from hands-on to hands-free?
If you want a stronger team, higher valuation, and genuine personal freedom, book a Business Exit & Succession Strategic Workshop with me. We’ll define what you want and by when. I’ll also send you a hand-picked book from my list of 300, on me, because learning accelerates earning. Let’s create commercial clarity, spot opportunities, and build your clean path to the next chapter.
