transition-planning-yumpuu

WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE SELLING
MY BUSIENSS?
For many business owners, the hardest part is not locating a buyer or
structuring terms of the deal, but it is discovering what they will do the
day they hand over the keys and walk out the door.
When you started your business, the objective may have been to be
independent, to put your creativity to work, or to have the freedom to
discover your own way. You probably also had a vision of your ideal
business: You put your money down and took your chances. You
invested all your time, money and energy, sacrificing weekends and
reinvesting your profits. You may not have realized it, but somehow
along the way you started to build the business around your strengths.
As the business grew, it was about more than the money; it became
your identity. In fact, you may now have a hard time imagining a
personal vision for your future without the business.
When you look at your net worth, you may have already reached your
“number” – meaning the sum you need to live comfortably throughout
retirement. However, you stayed in the business, possibly because your
“number” changed to enhance your lifestyle or you were afraid to stop
working. You could not visualize your life without the business. Maybe
it was never really about money at all: your business showcased your
strengths and gave you purpose.
Now, after spending your lifetime developing your creation, you are
thinking about selling. What will you do next with your time, strengths
and knowledge? What will become your new focus?
DEVELOP A CLEAR VISION OF WHAT YOU
ARE GOING TO DO NEXT
Many people start the process of selling their business without thinking
about what they will do once it is sold. This results in anxiety about
abandoning the structure, social environment and security the business
has provided. Anxiety can also cause you subconsciously to sabotage
your efforts to sell your business. You can reduce your anxiety by
developing a clear vision of “life after” that will pull you into the future
with a new passion and purpose.
Before you take the next steps to sell your business, start writing your
next life chapter using the same process you used when you started
your business. Develop a vision of what you want to do, one that is
fuelled by your natural strengths and passions and is not driven by
financial reward.
“
Being the richest man in the cemetary
doesn’t matter to me... Going to bed at
night saying “We have done something
wonderful,” that’s what matters to me.
- Steve Jobs
“
Dost thou love life? Then do not
squander time, for that’s the stuff
that life is made of!
- Benjamin Franklin
“
“
TRANSITION PLANNING GUIDE 25