Ignoring the elephant in the room? Willful blindness can cost you your business exit.

Preparing a business for exit is one of the most important steps in an owner’s journey. Yet many entrepreneurs and SME leaders fall into the trap of willful blindness -ignoring the warning signs and delaying the tough decisions that secure the future value of their business.

The reality is this: failure to prepare properly can cost you the chance of a profitable and smooth business exit.

What Is Willful Blindness?

Willful blindness occurs when we have the necessary information, or ought to know something, but still refuse to acknowledge or act on it.

At a societal level, it’s easy to see:

• People continue to smoke despite clear evidence of the health risks.
• Rates of obesity and diabetes keep rising, even as we learn more about the dangers of poor diet and lack of exercise.

As intelligent human beings, why do we behave like this?

• Fear of change?
• Complacency and wishful thinking that “it will sort itself out”?
• Belief that someone else—governments, scientists, or others—will solve the problem for us?
• Or perhaps it just feels “too hard”?

The same patterns of avoidance play out in the business world.

Willful Blindness in Business Exit Planning

For business owners, especially baby boomers, the stakes are even higher. A large wave of business owners are moving towards retirement in the short to medium term. Collectively, they control a huge proportion of SMEs and family businesses.

The reality is clear: many businesses will hit the market at the same time.

• With high supply and limited demand, only the best-prepared businesses will sell for premium value.
• Buyers will naturally prioritise businesses that are systematised, financially clean, and not dependent on their founders.

So why aren’t more owners preparing now? The answer may once again lie in willful blindness.

Why Don’t Owners Take Action?

The excuses are familiar:

• Pride – “I built this business, and I can’t let it go.”
• Identity – “This business is who I am. Without it, who am I?”
• Fear of the unknown – “I don’t know what I’ll do next, so I’d rather avoid the decision.”
• Denial – “My business is surely worth more than the market says.”

Often, it’s not one reason but a combination of many. Owners delay, hoping things will change. But hope is not a strategy.

The Cost of Avoidance

The danger of ignoring the elephant in the room is that time runs out. We see it often:

• Owners walk away because their businesses won’t sell.
• Enthusiasm and energy fade, making it impossible to sustain growth.
• By the time they finally act, it’s too late to extract maximum value.

Just like ignoring health issues, failing to deal with succession planning and exit strategy only makes the outcome worse.

What’s the Solution?

The answer is simple, but not always easy: stop hiding from the issue and take action.

• Begin preparing your business at least 1–3 years before your planned exit.
• Systematise operations so the business doesn’t rely on you.
• Engage external advisors to guide you through valuation, tax planning, and deal structuring.
• Shift from short-term thinking to building a business that buyers want to invest in.

Unlike teenagers who can rely on parents to push them forward, baby boomer business owners don’t have that safety net. The responsibility is yours and the time to act is now. 

A Light-Hearted Analogy

We are all guilty of willful blindness in parts of our lives. For me, every time I drive to the golf course and unpack my clubs, I know how the day will likely end: frustration, too many strokes, and a scorecard I’d rather not look at.

Do I change my approach, take lessons, or practise more? No. I continue the same routine, caught in a cycle of wishful thinking and willful blindness.

The difference is that in golf, the stakes are low. In business, ignoring reality could mean losing the retirement you worked so hard for.

Closing Insights

If you’re an SME owner thinking about retirement or planning a future transition, the worst mistake you can make is ignoring reality. Willful blindness delays progress and can erode the value you’ve worked so hard to build.

Taking small, deliberate steps now—acknowledging the challenges, planning ahead, and putting the right structures in place will make your business far more attractive to buyers and investors.

At Succession Plus, we help business owners confront the issues they’d rather avoid, giving them the clarity, tools, and strategies to exit on their terms. The elephant in the room won’t disappear on its own but by acting today, you can take control of tomorrow.