For many founders, the ultimate goal is clear: build, scale and sell.

But while the vast majority of B2B service leaders say they want to sell their business one day, the uncomfortable truth is that most never will.

Why?
Because scaling a business for exit demands something far rarer, and harder, than skill, market timing, or even profitability. It demands sacrifice.

🎥 Watch Simon Penson, Founder of Scaled Consulting, share his perspective:

The Sacrifice Mindset

“Every great business is sold in some format in the end,” Simon says. And he’s right – whether that means a full exit, a merger, a management buyout, or even a partial equity event, value is always realised through some form of transfer.

But the real difference between the founders who get there and those who don’t often comes down to mindset – and specifically, a willingness to make short-term sacrifices for long-term value.

Many founder-led businesses operate, consciously or not, as lifestyle businesses. Revenue is healthy, profits are strong and life feels good. But the loop between business money and personal money can become a trap. The business never gets the reinvestment it needs to break through the next ceiling.

It’s one of the biggest blockers we see in our work with B2B leaders, those “comfortable but stuck” companies sitting on great potential, but bleeding momentum because growth capital keeps flowing into personal lifestyle instead of future enterprise value.

The Reinvestment Reality

When Simon built his previous agency to 270 people and a successful sale, he lived this reality first-hand.

Even with seven-figure EBITDA on the table, he took just a £3,000/month salary – deliberately keeping personal reward low to maximise reinvestment.

That cash went into people, systems and growth bets. The kind that compound value.

It’s a powerful reminder that growth isn’t linear, it’s lumpy. Every business hits moments where you must decide between comfort and compound value.

The Human Cost

Of course, the sacrifices aren’t just financial.

Scaling for exit can test every part of a founder’s life – time with family, friendships and even mental health. It’s why Simon stresses the importance of having honest conversations early on about whether selling is really the goal.

Not every founder should sell. But if you’re serious about doing it, you have to be prepared to make the sacrifices required.

That clarity upfront – what you truly want, and what you’re willing to give up to get there – is one of the most important strategic decisions any founder can make.

A Conversation Worth Having

At Scaled, we spend a lot of time helping founders work through this exact decision, whether building to sell really aligns with their vision and personal goals. Because not deciding is a decision in itself.

If you’re starting to think about what an exit might look like, or just want to understand what truly drives valuation, you’ll find practical answers in our free 72-page Exit Blueprint.

It distills step-by-step frameworks and real-world diagnostics to help founders build the kind of resilient, valuable business that attracts premium buyers (when the time is right).

👉 Access your free copy of The Exit Blueprint, the practical guide to building a business that sells itself.