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Julie Keyes, Certified Exit Planner, national speaker, and faculty member at the Exit Planning Institute, shares her journey from entrepreneur to one of the leading voices in exit strategy education. After experiencing her own challenging business exit nearly two decades ago, Julie turned that experience into purpose—helping founders prepare both their businesses and themselves for successful transitions.
Key Takeaways
From Entrepreneur to Educator
Julie built and sold her own company without the right advisors, a hard-won lesson that shaped her mission to guide others through better exits. Today she runs a consulting and exit-planning practice, combining business growth strategy with transition readiness coaching.
Owner Readiness & Business Readiness
Julie breaks exit planning into two pillars. Owner readiness covers estate, tax, and financial planning—plus the emotional side of letting go. Business readiness focuses on transferability: reducing owner dependency, strengthening leadership, and ensuring systems can run without the founder.
Timing the Exit
She stresses that every business should always be “exit ready.” Life’s unexpected “Five D’s”—death, divorce, disagreement, disability, and distress—often force unplanned sales. Being prepared ensures owners can act when opportunity knocks or adversity strikes.
Valuation & Negotiation Insights
Julie warns against discovering your company’s worth only when an offer arrives. Founders should obtain a calculation of value early and engage professional M&A advisors or attorneys to negotiate deal structure, not just price, while keeping emotions out of the process.
The Power of Delegation & Transferability
If an owner can’t take two weeks off without the business stalling, it’s not yet transferable. Julie encourages founders to delegate, automate, and gradually step back to make their companies more valuable and sale-ready.
What’s Next – Poised for Exit & EPI Faculty Work
Post-exit, Julie hosts the Poised for Exit podcast and authored a book of the same name, continuing her mission to educate business owners and advisors. As an instructor with the Exit Planning Institute, she equips professionals nationwide with frameworks for strategic exits and wealth preservation.
Final Advice
“Don’t wait for an offer to find out what your business is worth,” Julie says. “Start planning early, de-risk your company, and build a business that can thrive without you. Every step you take today compounds into a better exit tomorrow.”
Personal &/or Company Bio:
Julie Keyes is the founder and owner of KeyeStrategies, an advisory firm helping entrepreneurs build enterprise value and prepare for successful business transitions. A lifelong entrepreneur turned Certified Exit Planning and Value Growth Adviser, Julie brings firsthand experience from starting, growing, and selling multiple companies. Recognized twice as EPI’s “Thought Leader of the Year,” she’s a national speaker, faculty member for the CEPA Program, and author of Poised for Exit: A Woman Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Transition.
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekeyes/
Website – https://keyestrategies.com/
Podcast – https://keyestrategies.com/podcast/
