In this important repeat episode, Diane sat down with Jessica Fialkovich, the founder of Exit Factor during our first national conference in October 2025. Jessica discussed her newest book, The Exit Factor.

Jessica provides valuable insights as to why she wrote the book -- how she wants to help business owners obtain VALUE out of their business and exit on their own terms, and for owners to think of "the day after..."

We then we dove into the 5 key areas of the VORTEx model:

Phase 1 - Value Your Business: What is your business worth today in the marketplace, and what is the value gap for the owner?

Phase 2- Optimize Your Financials: Clean up extraneous expenses, and determine how to improve both gross and net margins.

Phase 3- Record What You Do: This part is the key to making a business saleable - we take a brain-dump from the owner and document all processes, key contacts and critical information to be able to run the business without the owner.

Phase 4 - Transform Your Growth: This is the fun part - how can you grow your business to create something with high value and attractiveness in the marketplace?

Phase 5 - Exit, But Not The End: Whatever your exit looks like, a key point is to know what you will do the "day after" - many people want to retire from their business but don't think about what they are retiring TO.

It was a great opportunity to learn from Jessica directly, and she makes obvious that her passion for helping business drives her. Thank you for visiting us at The Transition Table!

You can order the book by clicking here: https://tinyurl.com/32mffu7s

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