Direct answer: Order of operations determines whether your business plan succeeds or fizzles into the ether. Wrong sequence stalls progress. Use a preflight checklist mental model, plan in 60-90 day increments, and consult qualified professionals early — before you make any major decisions.
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Why Order Of Operations Determines Whether Your Plan Succeeds
Sometimes when we make plans in our lives, they seem to be a certain size. Grand vision I have had for 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 years. Broken into 3, 6, 9, 12, or 18 month periods. Then broken to actions and tasks by day. The order of things you take really do matter. Some things you have to do first, second, third, fourth, and fifth.
Wrong order stalls the whole plan. Some things get taken longer. Some just get stalled out. Some things fizzle out and disappear in the ether. You do not want that. You really want to know your order of operations before you start executing.
When it comes to selling your business — whether you are doing a 3, 6, 9, 12, or 18 month exit, or a 3, 4, or 5 year plan — you have to know what you actually need in what order. This concept sits inside the Exit Ratio 360™ system as the sequencing layer.
The Preflight Checklist — How Pilots Handle Order Of Operations
Piloting a plane comes down to preparation. The pilot has the plane. They have to fly to the destination. There is a preflight checklist for everything they need before they go up in the air. Every item goes through it.
The pilot does not want to be missing the plane. They do not want anything missing on the plane. They do not want to run out of fuel. They do not want to miss a safety check. Every item in the checklist has to be verified in a specific order. There is a reason it is a checklist and not a suggestion list.
You are treating your business as if you are the pilot going up in a plane. You need this stuff figured out — in order — before you commit to the flight. The exit process is not less complex than piloting a plane. It is more complex, because the number of moving parts is larger and the consequences of missing a step are financial and personal at the same time.
The One-Thing-At-A-Time Principle
You cannot do all things at once. Some things need to be done first. Some things build stacks. When you take action, you take action — but the actions have to be sequenced right.
Some plans go by the wayside because owners try too many things at once. There is no priority. They do not know where to focus. The whole plan collapses under the weight of trying to hold all of it in mind simultaneously.
Here is the metaphor. If you are doing multiple things at once and cannot pull out one item, or the entire thing crumbles down like a Jenga tower — you are in trouble. Business planning has the same physics. Pull the wrong piece too soon and the whole structure comes down.
The 60-90 Day Increment Framework
For me, when I make plans, I do a lot in 60-90 day increments. You cannot do everything in a day. You cannot do everything in a week. You cannot do everything in a month. But you can do meaningful work in 60-90 day chunks.
The framework works like this:
- Decide what the next 60-90 days on this project or endeavor will focus on
- Do some prep work before you actually start
- Sequence the tasks within that window in an order that makes sense
- At the end of the window, evaluate what worked and adjust the next 60-90 days
Timelines matter. Plans without timelines are wishes. Plans with 60-90 day increments become executable. This aligns naturally with the meeting cadences described in how to implement accountability for growth, scale, or exit.
Why Plans Stall Even When You Know What To Do
You may go longer than expected. You may know exactly what you want to do and start moving. Then things get in the way. You get sidetracked and derailed and time goes on.
When making decisions of any consequence, the questions to ask are:
- How do I make this happen?
- What is the plan of action?
- What has to happen first?
- What can I not do until other things are complete?
- What is the sequence?
Otherwise, the plan does not happen. Not because you were not smart. Not because you did not have the resources. Because you did not sequence it right.
The Business Exit Application — Dating Your Professionals Early
Consider a business exit with a sale price of $100,000, $500,000, $1 million — or even $100 million on a larger deal. The order of things matters:
- Start dating your CPA — building the relationship before you need transactional support
- Add your tax accountant — often but not always the same person as the CPA
- Add your tax attorney — specifically for exit planning, not just general legal
- Add your business attorneys — for the transactional work when the LOI approaches
Understand the process before you start doing anything else. Before you make any major decisions. Here is the bad case: 90 days from now you decide to sell your business. You reach out to a CPA the same week. They tell you your entity structure is wrong for exit optimization. It takes 12-24 months to restructure. You either accept a lower multiple or postpone the sale by 12-18 months you did not plan for.
You would have made better decisions if you had started the conversation with them years earlier. You would have understood what a good decision could look like or should look like. It would have gotten you further ahead. See what your CPA should have been doing for the last 5 years for the specific tax planning levers that require this early conversation.
The Reward Of Sequencing Right
What ends up happening is a better opportunity than you thought was possible. Otherwise, it leaves everybody scratching their heads at what happened — not because you were not smart, but because you did not know. You cannot have known what you never sequenced yourself to learn.
Better sequencing produces better outcomes across every dimension of the business:
- Higher exit multiple because operational infrastructure was built before the buyer looked
- Cleaner tax outcomes because planning ran on a 3-5 year runway
- Better team readiness because accountability systems matured before the transition
- Reduced personal stress because you were not making major decisions under time pressure
If you are looking to sell your business in the next zero to thirty-six months, doing at least $2 million a year in revenue with a ten percent profit margin, the deal hotline is 888-DEAL-919. One of the team members will get back to you. No deal is too big.
Related cluster reading: exit strategy planning for selling a business, why your first buyer isn’t your best buyer, before you hire an advisor or consultant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the order of operations matter when taking action?
Because some tasks depend on others being done first. Wrong sequence stalls the whole plan. Some things get taken longer. Some just get stalled out entirely. Some plans fizzle out and disappear in the ether because owners tried to do everything at once instead of sequencing tasks in the order that lets them build on each other.
What is the preflight checklist analogy for business planning?
Pilots use a preflight checklist that verifies every item required for flight in a specific order — plane, fuel, safety check, and so on. The checklist prevents missed steps that would result in catastrophic outcomes. Business planning works the same way. Treat your business as if you are the pilot going up in the plane — verify each step in order before committing to the flight.
How should you plan in 60-90 day increments?
Decide what the next 60-90 days on your project will focus on. Do some prep work before you actually start. Sequence the tasks within that window in the right order. At the end of the window, evaluate what worked and adjust the next 60-90 days. You cannot do everything in a day, week, or month — but you can do meaningful work in 60-90 day chunks.
What is the Jenga tower risk in trying to do too much at once?
If you have too many things going on simultaneously and cannot pull out one item without the entire structure crumbling like a Jenga tower, you are in trouble. Business planning has the same physics as the game. Pull the wrong piece too soon and the whole plan comes down. Sequencing prevents this by ensuring each piece is stable before the next one is added.
Why do so many business plans stall or fizzle out?
Because owners know what they want to do and start moving without sequencing the work. Then things get in the way. They get sidetracked and derailed. Time goes on. The plan disappears not because it was wrong but because the order of operations was never worked out in advance. Planning without sequencing is wishing.
What professionals should you consult before selling your business?
Start with a CPA, then add a tax accountant if different, a tax attorney specifically for exit planning, and business attorneys for the transactional work. Consult all of them before you make any major decisions about the sale itself. Understanding the process before starting produces materially better outcomes than starting first and consulting later.
Why does timing matter for CPA and attorney conversations?
Because many tax planning and structural decisions require 12-24 months of runway to execute. If you consult your CPA 90 days before selling and they tell you your entity structure is wrong for exit optimization, you either accept a lower multiple or delay the sale by 12-18 months. Starting the conversation years earlier prevents both outcomes.
How does order of operations affect your business exit outcome?
The order determines the outcome. Right sequence produces higher multiples, cleaner tax outcomes, better team readiness, and lower personal stress. Wrong sequence produces the opposite. Two owners with the same business can achieve very different exit outcomes based purely on the order they took action in during the preparation period.
Can you skip the preflight checklist step?
You can, but the outcome depends on things you cannot control being lucky. Pilots do not skip preflight checklists because the consequences of missing a step are unacceptable. Business owners often skip planning sequences because the consequences show up later and can be rationalized. That rationalization is what compresses exit multiples industry-wide.
How do you know which order to do things in?
Ask the questions: What has to happen first? What can I not do until other things are complete? What is the sequence? Work with a consultant, advisor, or CPA who has run this playbook before and knows the typical dependency chain. Order of operations expertise is why experienced advisors add value even when their frameworks are otherwise standard.
Full Transcript
Sometimes when we make plans in our lives, they seem to be a certain size. Grand vision that we have had for 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 years. Broken into 3, 6, 9, 12, or 18 month periods. Then broken to actions and tasks by the day. The order of things we take really do matter. Some things you have to do first, second, third, fourth, and fifth. What order of operations do you need to consider — and why does it matter for you? I am Scott Sylvan Bell coming to you live from Consulting Secrets on a perfect day to talk about business exits, business strategies, business growth, and a fantastic day to talk about you.
You have to know the order of operations. Otherwise, some of these things get taken longer, some just get stalled out, some things fizzle out and disappear in the ether. You do not want that. You really want to know the order of operations. When it comes to selling your business — whether you are doing a 3, 6, 9, 12, or 18 month exit, or a 3, 4, or 5 year plan — you have to know what you actually need in what order.
Piloting a plane comes down to preparation. The pilot has the plane. They have to fly to the destination. There is a preflight checklist for everything they need. Every item goes through it. They do not want to be missing the plane. They do not want anything missing on the plane. They do not want to run out of fuel. They do not want to miss a safety check. You are treating your business as if you are the pilot going up in a plane. You need this stuff figured out.
You cannot do all things at once. Some things need to be done first. Some things build stacks. When you take action, you take action. Some plans go by the wayside because too many things are happening at once, and there is no priority. You do not know where to focus.
If you have all these things going on and you cannot pull out one item, the entire thing crumbles down like a Jenga tower. Business planning has the same physics.
For me, when I make plans, I do a lot in 60-90 day increments. You cannot do everything in a day, week, or month. But in the next 60-90 days on this project or endeavor, we are going to do this. Then you start planning. There is some prep work before you start. Timelines matter.
You may go longer than expected. You may know exactly what you want to do and start moving. Then things get in the way. You get sidetracked and derailed and time goes on. When you are making decisions of any consequence — how do I make this happen? What is the plan of action? Otherwise it does not happen.
For example, if you have a sale price of $100,000, $500,000, or $1 million, or you are putting in a larger deal — $100 million or so — the order of things is that you should be dating your CPA. Building the relationship with your tax accountant, your tax attorney, and your business attorneys. Understanding the process. Before you start doing anything else. Before you make major decisions.
Bad case: 90 days from now you decide to sell your business. You would have made better decisions if you started the conversation with them earlier. You would understand what a good decision could look like or should look like. It gets you further ahead.
What ends up happening is a better opportunity than you thought was possible. Otherwise, it leaves everybody scratching their heads at what happened. Not because you were not smart. Because you did not know. You cannot have known.
