Are You Prepared for the Next Stage of Your Business?

You’re a successful business owner who’s devoted all your time and effort into growing your company to be a best-in-class provider in the industry.  With your head down so long, you’ve probably never thought about what you were going to do as you approached the next stage of life.

Planning for that next stage before you actually get there can help solve many of the problems today’s business owners often face following an exit transaction.  It may sound great to play golf every day, or to sit at the lake and fish, but does that really replace the daily rush you had while operating your business?

In the most recent State of Owner Readiness Survey conducted by the Exit Planning Institute, 75% of business owners were dissatisfied with the result of their exit transition, post-transaction.[1]  While a number of factors can contribute to this dissatisfaction, developing a plan - and adjusting that plan based on what drives you emotionally - may help you from becoming one of the statistics.  As Churchill once said, “Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.”

Many owners think about what’s best for today, but aren’t necessarily giving consideration to unforeseen situations.  And planning for the unforeseen can be what helps transition a business successfully.  No one wants to contemplate what might happen to the business if you’re suddenly incapable of running it, and you most likely have key man life insurance that can help cover certain things, but do you have someone in house who can step in and keep the business afloat in your absence?.  Having such a plan in place, and making sure everyone involved in the plan is on board, could help your business continue to be successful during a transition period.

Developing that type of plan also presents your company as more valuable, since it’s not viewed as being solely reliant on one person to run the operation.

After all those years of working to build a respected business, you want to be able to recoup the most value out of your efforts.  With a little advance planning, you just may be able to set yourself up for a better than expected payday in the future.