The Exit Journey: Selling Your Business, Earn-Outs and Life After Exit
What actually happens when you sell your business?
Most founders build for years without ever thinking about an exit strategy, or what the other side of an exit looks like. The conversations happen behind closed doors, the numbers stay private, and the practical detail, what due diligence really demands, what earn-outs do to your life, what you wish you'd fixed three years earlier, rarely gets shared openly.
This session opens that up. You'll hear from women who have been through it: founders who have sold, and the advisers who sat on the other side of the table. We'll cover what makes a business genuinely buyable, how business valuations are actually arrived at, what to expect from the process of selling a business, month by month, and what changes for you personally once the deal completes.
As always, this is a practical session. Come with questions about your own business, you'll leave knowing what to start preparing now, whether an exit is two years away or ten.
Exit planning starts earlier than most founders think.
Women, Wealth & Capital is a series created to open up honest, practical conversations around money, funding, and ownership. It’s about giving founders the clarity and confidence to make strategic decisions, not reactive ones.
In this session, we’re looking at The Exit Journey.
What this session is about:
Exits are more often than not only spoken about as a shiny 8-9 figure headline, but this session goes behind that. It’s about what an exit actually feels like in practice: what position do you need to be in, how do you prepare for a successful exit, what is life like after an exit?
With our exited founders and expert panel, we'll walk through the reality of how to navigate an exit and what an exit feels like. All the while giving practical advice founders can take away and apply to their businesses so they can feel empowered to secure their ideal exit.
We’ll cover:
What does a buyable business look like and what is it worth?
How can founders prepare for a business for sale and successful exit?
How to negotiate and navigate a deal, from due diligence to earn-outs?
What is life like after selling your business?
Advice exited founders would give to themselves five years earlier.
Speakers :
Our confirmed speakers bring different perspectives on acquisitions, entrepreneurial endings and the legal issues founders need to understand.
Alana Macfarlane Kempner
Founder & CEO, The Gut Stuff
Alana co-founded The Gut Stuff with her twin sister to make gut health more accessible. The business grew across food and drink products, digital services, corporate wellbeing and television before its acquisition by Hero Group in April 2026. She brings candid experience of building, scaling and navigating an acquisition.
Bonnie Chung
Recovering Entrepreneur & Founder Coach
Bonnie is the founder and former CEO of Miso Tasty, the food brand she built for more than a decade before its rescue and acquisition. Following her own difficult entrepreneurial ending, she has interviewed more than 200 entrepreneurs about theirs. She brings a valuable perspective on founder wellbeing, identity, recovery and what comes next.
Fran Spooner
Partner, Marriott Harrison
Fran is a venture capital specialist lawyer with deep experience in VC and M&A transactions. Her work spans founders, technology companies and investors. She brings a legal perspective to the terms, commitments and decisions involved in growing and exiting a business.
Maria-Christina Peyman
Partner & Head of Intellectual Property, Birketts
Maria has more than 20 years of experience in intellectual property disputes, including patents, copyright, trade marks and ownership. She brings expertise relevant to understanding and protecting the assets within a business.
Come with the questions you would want answered before an exit.
We’ll explore preparing a business for sale, valuation, due diligence, earn-outs and life afterwards. The open Q&A gives you space to ask about your own business, with the panel answering as many questions as time allows.
Whether an exit is on your horizon or years away, join us to understand what to start preparing now.
Book your place using the registration button above.
Who this is for
Female founders scaling towards an exit or thinking about selling their business
Operators at growth-stage companies
Anyone curious about what happens on the other side of an exit
Join us in London at the brilliant Forvis Mazar offices with our hosts Independent Women, for canapés, drinks and plenty of networking with the Women, Wealth & Capital community.
If you can't make the event please join our waitlist for future sessions: https://womenwealthcapital.femfinity.co.uk/
FAQs
Is this useful if my exit is years away?
Yes. Most of the value in an exit comes from decisions made two to five years before the sale. You will leave knowing what to start preparing now.
Who is this event for?
Female founders scaling towards an exit, operators at growth-stage companies, and anyone curious about selling a business. Everyone is welcome.
What does the £28 ticket include?
The panel, open Q&A, canapés, drinks and networking with the Women, Wealth & Capital community at Forvis Mazars in London.
Can I ask about my own business?
Yes. Bring your questions about valuation, due diligence, earn-outs or timing. The panel will answer as many as time allows.