Planning For A Graceful Exit. No one wants to start a marriage planning for divorce. However, when you own a business with one or more individuals, you have to do exactly that; you need to plan for the end. But planning for failure doesn't mean that you will fail. It just means that you will have a graceful exit should the venture or the relationship take an unexpected and undesirable direction. So, what should you do to protect yourself as you start a new venture?