By Maurie Cashman
David Nelson was understandably a bit fearful. He was increasingly anxious to begin planning for his eventual transition of ownership of his business but his concerns prevented him from proceeding. “I’m too busy working in my business to think about how to leave it. Besides, I don’t know what to do-and neither do my advisors.”
Sound familiar? In our experience, the primary reasons owners hesitate to begin the planning process are:
- You may be so busy fighting alligators that you don’t have time to drain the swamp. Daily demands mean all of your time and energy are spent working in the business. You have little left to work on the business of transitioning ownership of your business.
A solution: spend a few hours on our website reading our blog and news articles. Sign up for our Members Only section where you can find even more in-depth material discussing Ownership Transition Planning.
- Owners may be unaware that there is a defined Ownership Transition Planning process that provides a template showing them the steps they can take in order to help them leave their businesses “On Their Terms.”
- Some lawyers, CPAs, insurance professionals and investment advisors, your professional advisors, may not know how to effectively work together to help you leave your business on your terms. If one of the professionals on your Advisory Team has provided you with a subscription to this newsletter, chances are good that he or she is informed and may specialize in helping owner/clients.
A solution: You can find a tremendous amount of information on our website. You need to know only WHAT needs to be done – a far easier task then learning HOW to accomplish what needs to be done. Leave the HOW to your advisors.
- Finally, many owners have a fear of the unknown-what will they do after they Transition Ownership of their businesses.
At the risk of sounding like the dentist you feared as a child, “Trust me, it won’t hurt.” As a successful, smart business owner, you can both discover and create a new and fulfilling life apart from your business if you plan ahead.