Freedom For Founders

10/14/2026

When an owner tells us they’re ready to sell, our first question is simple: is the business ready? 🤔
Exit readiness comes down to four pillars:
Insight: what drives your value, and where the risks are
Clarity: how much the business depends on you, and whether an exit funds your life
Return: what it earns versus what you need it to earn
Transfer: a clear plan for what to fix, when to move, and how the sale gets run
Most brokers start at pillar four. We start at pillar one, because insight comes before commitment.
Simon Fallows breaks it all down in under a minute in our new video below:
https://youtu.be/8zDrnIo5e0Y?si=ezEjspaPNJxFq_be

When an owner tells me they’re ready to sell, my first question is:...

10/10/2026

Happy Thanksgiving!🍁🍁🍁

There’s something special about a full table: the passing of dishes, the stories you’ve heard a hundred times, the laughter that runs a little too loud. This weekend, we hope you get plenty of all of it.😁

With love from all of us at Freedom for Founders. ❤️🍁

10/07/2026

My father left his businesses at 63. It didn't happen by accident.
At 84, he's now the hardest person in our family to track down.
He plays pickleball and tennis three days a week. He bikes or walks every day. He's usually travelling somewhere in the world by plane, train or boat.
Next May, he and his wife are flying to Tahiti for my wedding.
My father came to Canada from England in 1969 and built his companies the hard way. Long 80-hour weeks, recessions, payroll pressures and all the responsibility that comes with being the owner.
Like many founders, he could have believed the businesses would never run without him.
Instead, he planned his way out.
He put presidents in place, sold his core companies to them through management buyouts and sold the remaining businesses separately.
By 63, he was out.
On his terms. On his timing.
He even did it with me. When I got expelled from college and wanted to take over a small side business of his, he didn't hand it to me. He put a price on it: $30,000. "Pay me back when the business can afford it," he said.
Every business has value, he taught me, and unlocking it takes a plan.
Watching him taught me something I understand much better today, after selling my own companies and working with other owners:
Getting the business ready is only half the work.
The other half is getting yourself ready.
Who are you when you're no longer the owner?
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
What are you retiring to, not just retiring from?
Most Buyers need you to stay involved, would you?
Most owners wait far too long to ask themselves these questions.
My father has now had more than 20 years of life after business. It's been 15 years since I sold mine.
He chose to retire. I chose to keep building. We both got to choose.
Would you have that choice today, or would the business make it for you?
If you'd like to know how ready you are for whatever comes next, take the free Personal Readiness to Exit Score.
Just 12 questions and about 8 minutes, to see how prepared you are personally for life beyond your business. Your results arrive as soon as you finish.
https://score.valuebuildersystem.com/prescore/freedom-for-founders/simon-fallows

09/14/2026

What’s next for your business?

Whether you’re thinking about growing, selling, succession, or simply trying to figure out what the next chapter looks like, BizCon is a great place to start the conversation.

On September 24 at Bingemans Conference Centre in Kitchener, Simon Fallows will be one of three keynote speakers at BizCon, speaking to business owners about the decisions that come with buying, growing, and selling a business.

If you’re a founder thinking about what’s next, come join us.

Get your tickets now and we’ll see you there.

https://bizcon.ca/

07/23/2026

Spent the afternoon golfing with the team at Badlands Golf in Waterloo. It was a great reminder that some of the best conversations and connections happen outside of a boardroom.

Big thanks to the Grand Valley Construction Association for hosting!

It was a fantastic day of good golf, great company, and a little friendly competition. Looking forward to the next one!

07/01/2026

Picture this. It's early. The sky over the Indian Ocean is going soft pink, and you're paddling out into water that's actually warm. By lunch you're watching elephants move across the landscape. By evening you're at a long table with people you've just met but somehow already feel like you've known for years.

That's a day on our next Freedom Travel Club journey: South Africa's Dolphin Coast, in KwaZulu-Natal.

Your days are yours to shape. Surf lessons and flying trapeze if you want the thrill. A paddle out on calm water if you want to move at your own pace. And permission to do absolutely nothing at all if that's what you need most.

What ties it all together is the group. These journeys bring together founders and doers, the kind of people who work relentlessly and forget to celebrate how far they've come. This is the celebration.
Come remember what wonder feels like.

September 2027
From $3,763 per person
Ready for the details? Fill out the form here: https://freedomforfounders.com/travel-upcoming

06/29/2026

Val d'Isère is the kind of place you remember for years.

Our next Freedom Travel Club escape brings a group of founders to one of the most legendary ski resorts in the French Alps. It offers some of the most reliable snow in Europe and hundreds of kilometers for every ability.

It is a chance to celebrate how far you have come, to connect with people who speak the same language, and to trade real conversations on the chairlift, over dinner, and during après.

True to Club Med, the entire experience is all-inclusive. Lift passes, professional ski instruction, gourmet meals, spa, and après-ski are all handled, which means incredible skiing by day, great company by night, and zero logistics to worry about.

January 17-24, 2027 | From $5,980 per person

Ready to learn more? Visit https://freedomforfounders.com/travel-upcoming to fill out the form, or drop a comment below and we will send you details on our travel talks and the full trip information.

06/26/2026

This week at Bizcon Toronto, Simon took the keynote stage to share how mergers and acquisitions build the business and life you want.

But the day was about so much more than the talk. Our team had a blast connecting with brilliant owners and visiting so many standout companies at their booths.

A huge thank you to the organizers and to everyone who stopped by to say hello. These conversations are exactly why we show up. We left inspired and already can't wait for the next one!

06/23/2026

We built something for the people who built something.

Here's the thing we kept noticing. Founders hit the big milestones, the breakout year, the exit, the business that finally runs without you, and there's often nobody in the room who actually gets what that took. Your family's proud of you. Your friends are happy for you. But they don't carry the same weight you've been quietly carrying.

Introducing the Freedom Travel Club, curated group trips built in partnership with Expedia Cruises, at member-only rates you won't find anywhere else. No fee to join. Just like-minded founders and owners who've built, scaled, and sold, going somewhere unforgettable together.

Where we're headed:

South African Safari, September 2027. Game drives through the wild by day, an all-inclusive beachfront resort by night. The trip-of-a-lifetime kind of trip. Only 10 rooms.

Winter Escapes, January & March 2027, French Alps. Ski-in, ski-out access to the most iconic terrain in Europe, built for seasoned skiers and first-timers alike. All-inclusive, meals and drinks sorted. 8 rooms left for January, 17 for March.

Members also get invited to our exclusive travel talks, where you'll hear all the trip details and get every question answered before you commit to anything. Zero pressure to book, just first access to every trip we announce.

Founders, this one's for you. Comment "YES" or fill out the form on our website to join.

freedomforfounders.com/travel-upcoming

06/08/2026

You built the business. But are you free?

On June 23rd Simon Fallows will be one of the speakers at BizCon 2026 in Toronto.

So many owners build something successful and then realize they feel stuck inside it. His session, "Beyond the Sale: How Mergers and Acquisitions Build the Business and Life You Want," is about the way out and how the right move can give you liquidity, freedom, tax efficiency, and the peace of mind that your team and legacy are protected.

Date: June 23, 2026
Time: 1:40–2:00 PM
Location: 3895 McNicoll Ave, Toronto ON