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Episode 233

Exit Ready Operations: Dawn Andrews’ Business Systems Approach

This week on The Exit: Dawn Andrews, CEO of Free Range Thinking, shares valuable insights on building systems that increase business value at exit. Drawing from her background in an entrepreneurial family, Dawn discusses how proper processes and documentation are critical for attracting buyers and commanding higher valuations.

Dawn also addresses specific challenges female founders face during exits, highlighting the need to overcome both external underestimation and internal self-doubt through meticulous preparation and confident storytelling.

She advises founders to decide on their exit timeline years in advance to shape current operations and stresses the importance of maintaining clear communication with all stakeholders during the process.

Her key advice to her past self: “take risks and be messy” rather than seeking perfection.

For more details and insights from her entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.

Personal Bio: 

Dawn Andrews is the Founder and CEO of Free Range Thinking, a boutique Business Strategy Consultancy that enables entrepreneurs to lead their businesses with unwavering confidence, intelligence, and passion.

She’s an executive leadership coach, growth strategist, and acclaimed trainer and speaker. Her work includes collaborations with Maria Shriver, Shriver Media, and leading Women’s History Month programming for global pharmaceutical titan AbbVie.

She’s also the host of the She’s That Founder podcast, like your morning coffee but for your soul and career ambitions.

As the Female Leadership Accelerator (FMxLA) founder, she’s committed to amplifying the influence of the next generation of female leaders to make their reverberations felt in their communities, in the US, and across the globe.

Dawn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/freerangethinking/

Free Range Thinking Website: https://www.freerangethinking.com/

Check Out Flippa’s Data Insights Tool: https://flippa.com/data-insights

The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

YOUR HOST

Steve McGarry

An entrepreneur, content creator, and investor based in sunny Tampa, Florida. In 2015, while living in San Francisco, Steve sold his first fintech startup LendLayer to Max Levchin’s (founder of PayPal) consumer finance company Affirm.

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