The Academy · Our Services
Prepare your business for the next chapter
Exit planning, succession and business preparation built around where you are now and where you want to go.
Whether you are considering a sale, preparing someone else to lead or looking to reduce your day-to-day involvement, start with a clearer view of your options.
Explore The Academy’s five connected service areas below, or speak with Si Harris about where to begin.
Practical business and exit preparation.
- Clearer exit options
- Less founder dependence
- Practical preparation
Explore our services
Five connected ways to prepare for what comes next
Each service area answers a different question. Together, they connect your goals with the information, people and business improvements needed for a future transition.
Define your direction
Exit Strategy & Planning
What do you want your next chapter to look like?
Explore your options for selling, handing over or stepping back. Connect your preferred outcome with the preparation your business needs.
- Clarify your goals and preferred timing
- Consider sale and succession options
- Identify founder dependence
- Connect business readiness with your exit
Understand your starting point
Reverse Due Diligence
What would a buyer or successor want to know?
Examine the business from an outside perspective. Identify risks, missing information and operational gaps before a handover becomes urgent.
- Review financial visibility
- Identify customer and key-person reliance
- Consider systems and information gaps
- Prioritise preparation needs
Organise the work
Exit Roadmap
What needs to happen, and in what order?
Turn your intended exit into practical priorities, responsibilities and milestones that can be reviewed alongside the demands of running the business.
- Define preparation priorities
- Assign responsibility for actions
- Identify milestones and dependencies
- Review progress as circumstances change
Prepare the next leader
Succession Planning
How will the business continue as your role changes?
Consider the people, knowledge and relationships needed for continuity. Prepare for a family handover, management transition or a new leadership arrangement.
- Clarify future roles and responsibilities
- Identify leadership development needs
- Plan knowledge and relationship transfers
- Define the founder’s future involvement
Understand value drivers
Business Valuation Readiness
What supports the value of your business?
Look beyond a headline number. Consider earnings, risk and transferability, and identify the information and preparation needed for a more informed value discussion.
- Understand key business value drivers
- Identify information to organise
- Consider owner dependence and continuity
- Clarify when formal valuation advice is needed
Find your starting point
Which service do you need?
Start with the question you are trying to answer. You do not need to have your entire exit worked out before starting a conversation.
- “I want to step back, but I am unsure of my options.”
- Start with exit strategy and planning to clarify your preferred direction.
- “I do not know whether the business is ready for a buyer.”
- Explore reverse due diligence to identify preparation gaps.
- “I know the goal, but the preparation feels overwhelming.”
- Use an exit roadmap to organise priorities and next steps.
- “Someone else needs to take over leadership.”
- Explore succession planning to prepare the people and the business.
- “I want to understand what could affect business value.”
- Start with business valuation readiness and discuss whether formal valuation advice is required.
One business. Connected priorities.
Preparation works best when the pieces fit together
Your exit goals affect the improvements you prioritise. Your team’s capability affects how you can step back. The quality of your information affects how clearly others can assess the business.
The Academy’s approach connects these conversations so the preparation reflects your business and intended next chapter.
If your next step is implementing changes, explore The Academy’s business coaching services.
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Start with your goals
Clarify what you want to change, your preferred timing and your future involvement.
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Understand the business today
Identify the strengths, dependencies and gaps that shape your options.
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Make the next actions clear
Choose priorities, define responsibilities and review progress as the business evolves.
Founder-led guidance
Work with Si Harris
Si Harris is the founder of The Academy. His background includes more than two decades in business, including building and selling his own business.
His approach brings business preparation back to the practical work of improving financial visibility, people, systems and the owner’s role.
The Academy’s services: common questions
What services does The Academy offer for business exit preparation?
The Academy’s connected service areas cover exit strategy and planning, reverse due diligence, exit roadmaps, succession planning and business valuation readiness. The appropriate starting point depends on your goals and the business’s current position.
Do I need to know exactly how I want to exit?
No. You can begin by discussing what you want to change, your preferred timing and how involved you want to remain. That conversation can help clarify your options and preparation priorities.
Can these services work together?
Yes. An exit strategy can establish the direction, reverse due diligence can identify gaps, and an exit roadmap can organise the work. Succession and value-readiness considerations can inform the plan throughout.
Does business valuation readiness include a formal valuation report?
The service described here focuses on value drivers and business preparation. If you need a formal independent valuation report, discuss that requirement with Si and an appropriately qualified valuation professional before agreeing the engagement scope.
Can I enquire from outside the Southern Highlands?
Yes. The Academy welcomes enquiries from across Australia’s eastern seaboard and New Zealand. Contact Si to discuss your business, location and the support available.
Start with a conversation
Tell Si what you want your next chapter to look like
Share a little about your business, what you are considering and where you need more clarity. Use the form below to discuss the service or combination of services that may suit your situation.
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