Setting up an exit strategy so your business maintains its values
Jeff Hollender co-founded Seventh Generation and served as its CEO for many years. He often spoke of “organic” growth, as opposed to chasing all the big fish in the market all the time, or “selling out” to the Wal-Mart’s of the world. (Back then, Wal-Mart was widely seen as the devil….now maybe they’re just a minion…)
Hollender’s slow, steady growth strategy eventually led to his ouster, and the values of Seventh Generation that he had instilled as the company’s founder hung in the balance. Would the company continue to be a shining star of the sustainable business community?
This document shows you how to set up your exit strategy (something you need anyway), along with some strategies to make sure the business continues to keep to its mission and vision that you have for it.
Scott Cooney
Scott Cooney (twitter: scottcooney) is an adjunct professor of Sustainability in the MBA program at the University of Hawai'i, green business startup coach, author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill), and developer of the sustainability board game GBO Hawai'i. Scott has started, grown and sold two mission-driven businesses, failed miserably at a third, and is currently in his fourth. Scott's current company has three divisions: a sustainability blog network that includes the world's biggest clean energy website and reached over 5 million readers in December 2013 alone; Pono Home, a turnkey and franchiseable green home consulting service that won entrance into the clean tech incubator known as Energy Excelerator; and Cost of Solar, a solar lead generation service to connect interested homeowners and solar contractors. In his spare time, Scott surfs, plays ultimate frisbee and enjoys a good, long bike ride. Find Scott on Google Plus
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