ELINOR FISH

As an entrepreneur and female founder, I know what it’s like to care so deeply about your team and your customers that it keeps you up at night. I would joke that my business was a like my “second child” because it took just as much (sometimes more) of my energy than being a mom!

Over 14 years, I worked incredibly hard to build my business from a one-person operation to an international travel company with seven employees and dozens of contractors around the world, serving hundreds of travelers a year.

However, it took everything I had to keep my company going through the pandemic, and then to scale at an insane rate in the post-Covid travel surge.

By 2024, I was deeply burned out and knew it was time to sell my company.

Fortunately, I had been taking steps to prepare the company for sale over the previous two years. So when I had to sell for the sake my personal health and my team’s success, the process was a snap.

Selling my business was such a liberating and empowering process that I have since immersed myself in the world of M&A, expanding my financial knowledge and evaluating dozens of business for sale each month as a buyer and investor, mostly in the travel and tourism sector.

And I can tell you there are some telltale signs that make it obvious when a founder has planned their exist versus when they haven’t, and it makes a big impact on which deals close.

My hope is for you to never sell your company out of duress or for less than it’s worth, but rather, because you’re ready to do it on your terms and at it's highest value.

The good news is that the steps involved with preventing owner burnout are the same ones that turn your business (in which you toil every day) to an asset that makes you money while you enjoy your life. You’ve been in the years of hustle. You deserve to sit back and enjoy the rewards of all your hard work.

As an entrepreneur and female founder, I know what it’s like to care so deeply about your team and your customers that it keeps you up at night. I would joke that my business was a like my “second child” because it took just as much (sometimes more) of my energy than being a mom!

Over 14 years, I worked incredibly hard to build my business from a one-person operation to an international travel company with seven employees and dozens of contractors around the world, serving hundreds of travelers a year.

However, it took everything I had to keep my company going through the pandemic, and then to scale at an insane rate in the post-Covid travel surge.

By 2024, I was deeply burned out and knew it was time to sell my company.

Fortunately, I had been taking steps to prepare the company for sale over the previous two years. So when I had to sell for the sake my personal health and my team’s success, the process was a snap.

Selling my business was such a liberating and empowering process that I have since immersed myself in the world of M&A, expanding my financial knowledge and evaluating dozens of business for sale each month as a buyer and investor, mostly in the travel and tourism sector.

And I can tell you there are some telltale signs that make it obvious when a founder has planned their exist versus when they haven’t, and it makes a big impact on which deals close.

My hope is for you to never sell your company out of duress or for less than it’s worth, but rather, because you’re ready to do it on your terms and at it's highest value.

The good news is that the steps involved with preventing owner burnout are the same ones that turn your business (in which you toil every day) to an asset that makes you money while you enjoy your life. You’ve been in the years of hustle. You deserve to sit back and enjoy the rewards of all your hard work.