Chapter 1
1.An End…and a Beginning
“What feels like the end is often the beginning.”
—Unknown
Your business is all encompassing, and when you think about a future business sale, personal transition planning appears more difficult than it is, which often results in it being avoided altogether. You recognize the value in planning ahead, but you are so busy running and managing the business that you simply never allot the time to sit down and create a plan, even though the resulting benefits will be immeasurable for everyone involved.
Many business advisors we speak with recognize that these important issues are not being dealt with adequately before, during, and after most transactions:
The [business] advisor community doesn’t spend the time to understand the client’s [personal and family] objectives, or to prioritize those objectives, or then throughout the process to remind the client, “These were your objectives going in. Are we addressing them adequately?” (corporate attorney, interview)
Following the sale, business owners understand they no longer have an operating business generating cash flow but now have cash instead that needs to be invested. They come to recognize the need for expert advice to invest the proceeds of the sale to provide family income. You’ll need guidance in learning how to sustain the lifestyle that you, your spouse, and your family expect to enjoy. But what else do you need to know?
Avoiding Personal Concerns
Addressing personal planning is often difficult for business owners. Life, business, and other distractions get in the way and cause you to push it aside. Between being busy and thinking,I’ve got plenty of time to deal with that later, it’s easy to postpone addressing something that makes you uncomfortable. You may never have considered the need to plan, even though the transition is imminent.
I think the hardest thing for business owners is to recognize the need for personal transition planning. (corporate attorney, interview)
Personal transition planning requires engagement in ways that make many owners uncomfortable. As an entrepreneur, you work with a team of professionals who playwell-defi