
When starting a business or making any kind of business related purchase, thinking of an exit strategy is key. Think of your worst case scenarios and have back-up plans just in case.
An example I’d like to use is buying a classic car. So let’s say you want to start a project for fun and for profit. You want to buy an old car and fix it up to re-sell afterward. First you research the cost of repairs, feasibility of finding parts and how much this fully restored car costs. After getting rough figures on all of this, since you need to make a profit, you’ve got to purchase your old car at the right price. So you get a good deal, but after taking it to a mechanic, you realize it needs far more repairs than you first thought. At this point, you don’t want to invest further money into the car, so it’s a loss, right? Wrong.
You had an exit strategy. Since you bought the car on the cheap, you can sell the parts and your best case scenario at that point is to break even and recoup your expenses. By always thinking of the worst case scenarios beforehand you can save your investment from turning into a loss.