You should start thinking about your exit strategy right from the very beginning. This exercise can be as simple or complicated as you would like - dependent on how important and urgent it is for you to exit the business. Some people build their business solely with the intention of selling it in the shortest possible timeframe. Some people build a business for lifestyle reasons and never plan to sell it.
And if you complete Innov@te's @ha Stage correctly you could, in certain instances, even sell your completed @ha Idea as an intellectual property sale. But you will probably need a highly original and patent protected idea to in a position to achieve that.
Wherever you sit on the above spectrum you should extrapolate your exit strategy up front and attempt to value such an exit.
First of all you need to make a list of the ten most likely purchasers of your company first 3 years out, then 5 years out (the list will often change the further you develop your business). Rank the ten exit targets and write a sentence or two describing why they should buy your idea/business. Do they need your product, or your patents, or your customers, or your people etc.
If you want to be more thorough, then research the list of their leading customers and make sure you are likely to win a bunch of them. If your customers are consumers rather than business customers, then it will be more about product, customer and brand overlaps or synergies - so research theirs.
Lastly, when you have produced your list of exit candidates both 3 and 5 years out, extrapolate the likely price they will pay. Use the multiples developed in the Model and value most likely economic return from taking honed @ha I... and figure out whether they will pay a premium and if so why. If you build the business right, achieve all your key milestones and rank your exit candidates correctly you should expect at least a small premium from the candidates at the top of your list.
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