If you are reading this and recently sold your business, thanks for sticking around the Business Builders Weekly. Reach out to us and share what you are doing with your new timeline in life.
For many years, JKL Associates has been honored to work with many business owners during their transition from building to selling and into their next phase of life. Each one has been unique to the owner’s situation. Each one has had some pleasant surprises, and every one has had some bumps in the path to getting the deal done.
Part of our relationship with our clients has always been to assist them in moving from job owner to business owner to asset owner and then converting their assets into some next phase of life. In some cases, when working with serial entrepreneurs, their next phase was another startup business. Some owners wanted out of the ownership aspects of the business for many reasons. They would stick around the company for some years in a less critical role and still contribute to the goals and objectives of the business. Still other owners sold their assets and rode off into the sunset of retirement. All are positive ways to move into the next phases of an individual’s life. The key here is that they approached their life, their business, and their post-sale strategically.
The last part about them approaching things strategically was only true once we had some conversations about subsequent phases of their lives. Retirement, selling a business, starting another business, etc., had components that required preplanning and the execution of timely initiatives to make the process more successful.
Far too often, owners seek potential assistance in converting their business assets into other financial instruments, and their timeline is unrealistic. They put off looking at what their business leadership role might look like five years down the line, and then suddenly, some event happens that perpetuates a quick change of mind. Unfortunately, some of these events have been health-related, some financial, yet others did not admit that a plan for transferring business assets needed to be made.
There is an older Covey statement – “Start with the end in mind.” We often use this phrase with clients to cause them to start thinking differently. Not only about the future transition of their business assets, but also about the decisions made when developing their assets. If at the beginning of a strategic effort, we pause and ask ourselves – how do we get out of this if it does not work? It causes us to think through many of the possible challenges that need to be considered before jumping all in. It also helps frame the vision of the business assets’ desired end state. This is not a limiting approach but a building approach. A new endpoint can be created if the vision is realized sooner than anticipated. Without an endgame in mind, there is nothing driving results, and the end can drag out so long that the asset consumes itself, leaving little financial value for the owner.
This week, it is time to pause and ask yourself what the endgame looks like for you and the business. There may be many factors to consider – partners, employees, clients, etc. If part of the future is perpetuation internally to family or employees, then grooming those people for the roles they will need to execute takes time. If you started the business, all the dynamics came to you gradually, likely under stress and chaos. As you have built your organization, the internal and external workings have become more defined and potentially more complex. Time to develop successors is not something to shortchange, especially if you will seller finance the transition. You want to make sure the cash flow will pay you out.
Now is the time to contact JKL Associates and start the conversation. Our years of assisting in these perpetuation efforts with business owners give us a unique perspective to help facilitate your trusted advisors to get you to your desired destination. We can be reached at FL (407-984-7246) or MI (313-527-8945)
Journey On!
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QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS – EMAIL US AT PARTNERS@JKLASSOCIATES.COM OR CALL OUR OFFICES – MI AT (313) 527-7945 FL AT (407) 984-7246
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