For a business what does exit barrier mean?

In business exit barrier means the factors that restrict
the choice of a person or a firm to exit from its current line of business or to close
down an ongoing business. The exit barriers are closely related to entry barriers, which
refer to the factors that restrict the ability of a person or a firm to enter into a new
business. Firms like to close down or exit from their existing business and enter new
businesses that are more profitable. But the exit and entry barriers make it difficult
for them to do so.

The main exit barrier in business is
that a firm exiting a business is forced to continue incurring many types of expenses on
the facilities and assets used in the business, without getting any benefit in return
from these assets. The firm may be forced to continue to incur charges such as
depreciation on its assets and interest on capital employed without being able to make
use of these in any ways. Further the firm may not be able to sell or dispose off such
assets, except at heavy losses. This kind of limitation on alternate use of business
assets is described by economists as asset
specificity.

Also, the entry barriers, which restrict the
ability of firms to enter  alternate businesses, discourages them from exiting their
current businesses. The entry barriers include legal barriers, regulations, and product
differentiation.