The path to growth — and the exit

Maybe it’s a sandwich chain, or a price comparison website, or a bioscience breakthrough: but the start-up was your baby, and you’ve worked night and day to prove its potential. Now it needs capital to go to the next level — and you need liquidity for family needs, as well as a plan for long-term exit. Who do you turn to, and what questions should you ask?

Earlier in this series, Julian Cooper of Julius Baer told us that entrepreneurs need to think well ahead — and ‘meet the right people, the right lawyers, the right potential investors’. Simon Ward is a lawyer with Farrer & Co who acts for businesses backed by venture capital and private equity. ‘Entrepreneurs need to address “below the line” issues at an early stage: how to turn an owner-managed venture into a professional, risk-aware business that looks seriously investable. That could involve appointing a financial controller and experienced non-executive directors, securing key customer contracts and intellectual property, and reducing dependence on the founders, lest they move on — or, God forbid, get run over by a bus.’