Graduation Isn’t the Only Time We Ask,
“What’s Next?”
At a recent graduation party, I realized the graduate and a business owner in our family were wrestling with some of the same questions. One was deciding what to do with his career. The other was deciding what to do with the business he spent a lifetime building and what to do with himself after that.
The emotions surrounding a major life transition are remarkably similar whether you’re 22 years old leaving school or 62 years old deciding the future of a company you’ve spent a lifetime building.
Both are proud of what they’ve accomplished. Both are excited about about what could come next. And both had plenty of anxiety about the future path they could choose. What I found interesting was that neither of them was asking “What should I do?” They were asking “How do I know I am making the right decision?” That’s a question every successful business owner eventually faces.
Unlike graduation, there isn’t a date on the calendar that tells you it’s time. There isn’t a graduation date or a diploma. No one has a timetable or map for deciding what comes next. Instead, the owner will realize at some point that this valuable company they’ve built comes with the responsibility and the honor to decide its future.
The challenge isn’t that today’s landscape business owners have too few options. It’s that they have more options than any generation before them.
The Challenge of More Choices
A generation ago, many owners followed a more predictable path. They assumed their children would take over, or they would just continue running the company until they were ready to step away. Today there are more possibilities than ever:
- Family transition
- Management buyout
- Employee ownership
- Strategic sale
- Private equity partnership
- Continued ownership with professional management
What’s Next? Start Exploring Your Options
More options create opportunity, but they also create uncertainty. The good news is that neither graduates nor business owners need to have all the answers immediately. The key is to begin the process of exploring the possibilities. The most successful graduates don’t know exactly what their future will be on graduation day. They succeed because they continue learning, stay open to opportunities and prepare themselves for whatever comes next. Business owners are much the same.
The owners who have the most attractive options usually didn’t start preparing because they were ready to sell or make another transition. They started preparing because they wanted the freedom to choose when the time was right.
Readiness is about building a company and creating a set of options that allow you to choose the future you want when the time comes. It’s not about committing to one path today.
Whether you are celebrating a graduation or reflecting on decades you spent building a successful company, take the time to appreciate what you’ve accomplished and to be excited about what could come next.
Asking What’s Next? can be the first sign that you are ready to start your next chapter.
If you would like to discuss your situation on a confidential basis, please call me (Alison) at 224-688-8838 or email me at [email protected]. We’re here to help you Harvest Your Potential.
