How do you leave and sell the business you’ve built
You had your own reason for starting your business. You’ve had the freedom to set the goals which have lead to your personal and professional success. You’ve likely learned from models and have even developed many of your own, to be successful in your field. Did you ever consider how you would sell your business?
The challenge most business owners like us face is that while we are experts in our craft, we often make ourselves indispensable to our business’ survival. When it comes time for us to start our next chapter, either in retirement or our next challenge, we are only left with three options:
- Hand-off the business to an employee or family member
- Sell the business as is
- Shut the business down (quickly or slowly)
What happens after you’re gone?
If you are leaving at the top of your game, you have to set the next owner up for success. Are there systems and processes in place to ensure your success will be replicable? If you are taking either of the first two options, this will be critical. An experienced buyer of the business will see that the business has limited chance of survival without you, the linchpin, and will either adjust their purchase price or pass on buying. Your heirs or next in command may not have the knowledge to realize this.
Sadly, one of the more common exit strategies I have seen is the dismantling of a successful business as the owners lose excitement and begin looking for a way out. If you built your house by hand, you wouldn’t set it on fire when it came time to move. Would you? Then why would you do this with the businesses you’ve spent years building?
What is legacy planning?
Legacy planning begins well in advance of your retirement and it is never too early to begin planning for your exit. If you are young and you would like to move your role out of the day-to-day or have a plan for business continuity in the event anything happened to you, starting now will be your best move. If you are still in your prime and are planning your grand exit, make sure you do it with dignity. Leave a business behind which reflects who you are and set yourself up for a bountiful next chapter. To do it, you’ll need:
- The right people lined up to replace your knowledge and experience
- The right plan to develop passive income for yourself, from the business
- Good records of business success and profitability
- Systems to track growth and to maintain accountability
Whether your exit is in 10, 5, 2 years, or if you want to be ready on a moment’s notice, the fact that you’ve found your way here tells me you’re ready to start building your legacy!
Schedule your free 30 minute call to find out more and to take the first step toward your next chapter, to ensure you create a meaningful legacy!
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