From Concept to Exit: Lessons in Business Strategy
The Leap Isn’t Always Romantic
Entrepreneurs love the idea of a bold leap. Up close, it rarely looks romantic. Scott Schwab’s story shows how clarity, structure, and patient persistence can carry you when the market shrugs at your idea. He started with a simple gap: business students weren’t writing real business plans. He built a curriculum, a platform, and a pitch. Publishers and institutions said no. They wanted familiar names. Instead of quitting, he decided: if the door won’t open, become the door. That choice led him into accreditation, audits, and rethinking what education quality really means in competency-based learning and boot camps.
Accreditation Teaches Systems Thinking
Accreditation turned Scott into a systems thinker. Institutions don’t accept stories without proof. They want policies, outcomes, syllabi, risk plans, stakeholder communication, and evidence in the student portal. That forced a product mindset: define the promise, ship the process, verify the result. For founders, the lesson is clear. Write the plan. Prove product-market fit. Know your market. Know who sells, why buyers care, and how you will deliver. A crisp executive summary converts attention into alignment.
Building Growth Through Two Engines
The company grew through two engines: an accredited program and a development shop that trained and placed talent. This loop validated learning, created revenue, and built credibility. When suitors arrived, conversations turned to valuation, structure, and taxes. Scott’s advice is blunt. Your exit is built long before a letter of intent. Legal guidance, tax planning, and strong governance protect your upside. Treat the operating agreement like a business prenup. Define expectations, decision rights, and exit paths before emotions take over.
From Education to Agriculture
After stepping back from the school, Scott co-founded a hemp venture at 500 acres. Farming alone wasn’t enough. Success meant soil testing, contaminant controls, verified COAs, QR-coded traceability, and finding the right extraction partners. Transparency became the brand. The business evolved into finished products with Met Naturals and MetWellness, combining product, service, and education. The lesson: products win when the systems around them, from logistics to compliance to customer care, are designed and measured.
Habits Drive Every Milestone
Every milestone is backed by a habit. Write things down. Make space to think. White space away from screens feeds insight, connects dots, and strengthens conviction. Plans aren’t sacred. Review, test, and pivot when evidence calls for it. Partnerships need ongoing conversations, check-ins, and the humility to change roles or part ways. When energy drains and goodwill fades, mediate or exit cleanly. Your health and your company’s health are strategic assets. Treat them that way.
Start With a Living Business Plan
If you’re building now, start with a living business plan. Document your market, differentiation, and operating system. Implement lightweight governance. Track quality, customer feedback, and compliance. Prepare for optionality. When opportunity knocks, you won’t scramble. You’ll negotiate on value, not faith. And when it’s time to leap again into a new sector, a new model, or a new season, you’ll do it with structure that turns bold ideas into durable wins.
