Preparing Yourself for Exiting Your Business
You prepared your company for sale and congratulations! You’ve successfully accomplished the transfer of ownership either to family, management or to a third party. You now have financial resources exceeding your expectations since you’ve been investing outside of the business to diversify your assets for years. You have no worries about retirement and for all the other goals you have for your estate.
What are you planning to do with your energy, drive, intellect, and resources now?
Building that successful business wasn’t easy. Your success as an entrepreneur may have made it look easy, but we know that to be successful, you’ve had to invest yourself in the business far beyond a “normal” job. If you didn’t have the “fire in the belly” you probably wouldn’t have taken this on. You’ve had to take risks, endure long days and sleepless nights. You’ve had to become a leader, be a continuous learner, and serve your customers and your employees tirelessly. As a business owner, your role in your community has become one of influence and importance. Friends, neighbors, co-workers, other business owners, and others know you as “that’s John, he owns Ideal Company”.
Start thinking NOW about what you want to do in your after business life. The happiest, healthiest, and most fulfilled sellers are those who have goals that are big enough to keep them challenged. I believe that vague thoughts about spending more time with family, improving your golf game, or sleeping in will become less than important to you after an initial transition period. That might be three months for some or six months for others, but eventually you will need something to strive for. I have seen people start up a completely different type of business, start a charitable organization in Africa, start teaching at the community college level, travel all over the country in an Airstream, write a book, or volunteer in a significant way at their church, hospice, or the Botanic Garden. The key word is MEANINGFUL.
Take some time to think about it. Maybe you can “stick your toe” into a few ideas to see whether they feel right. And don’t forget to check with your spouse to make sure you are on the same page!
If you’d like to discuss your goals for a graceful exit, feel free to give us a call. It’s never too early to start working on your plans for transitioning your business and transitioning your personal energy towards your future goals.
You can reach me via email: [email protected] or on my cell phone a: 224-688-8838.
We’re here to help you Harvest Your Potential!
