Stop Making Excuses – Start Planning!

Business owners have a ton of excuses as to why they won't begin planning for succession. But making excuses only leads to procrastination, and being unprepared may lead you to squander a great deal, or have to stay longer than you wish.

You have nurtured and grown your business. It's hard to imagine leaving! It's been one of the most important things in your life.

Some common excuses from business owners and ways to combat them include:

-Darn! My business isn’t worth enough to meet my needs.

This excuse is legitimate, but also can be addressed. Making an exit plan to drive up value years before you intend to leave will help ensure that when the time comes, your business will leave you financially stable. Start now to identify the most productive and tax-efficient ways to leave on your own terms.

-This business is my life! Who will I be without it?

It can be scary to leave behind something you’ve poured your heart and soul into for the last thirty years, but if you invest some energy in assessing what motivates you, you can find a meaningful and rewarding lifestyle in your post-business life.

-A buyer will find me when the time is right.

If only… This passivity can lead to working much longer than expected, much longer than wanted, or it can result in a bad deal for you. Being an active seller is better than waiting; the market of tomorrow may not be perfect, you never know when a competitor can move in or another recession hits. Working towards finding a suitable buyer is always better than waiting for one to come to you.

-I will be required to work for a new owner for years.

Not if you make sure you have a solid team to run the business while you’re still there. Invest in their professional development. The less you need to be involved now, the less you’ll need to be involved then. Your business is more valuable if you don’t need to run it day in and day out.

Start planning for this transition now to secure your financial security and future happiness and to ensure the sustainability of your business for your employees and customers. There may not be a perfect time to exit, but the time to start planning is now. When you actually walk away is an incredibly personal decision that only you can make.

Is Your Plan In Place?

As you may know, only 10% of business owners have a written succession plan and…every business owner will leave their business one day. No. Matter. What! In the best situation, you leave when you want, with the return on investment you hoped for, and with a trusted successor or buyer in place. In any case, you still need a successor, and most of the time, they will not just appear in your life, with the skills and experience you need, and be willing to buy your business for what you think your business is worth, or take over and run your business for the compensation you have in mind. Drafting a succession plan and creating an exit strategy is complicated! It’s tricky. It’s filled with uncertainty. It can be uncomfortable to think about leaving your baby to someone else, even if they pay you handsomely for it. You may be uncertain about their real ability to run and grow your business. You may be worried about what you will do when you no longer have the business to run. It’s been such a big part of your life for 20, 30 maybe even 40+ years. If any of this resonates with you, know you are not alone. We interviewed over 35 business owners and have collated their most pressing concerns. See the list. Post your favorites below.

Take the first step today by recognizing that it’s time to get started. With a written succession plan in place, you not only prepare for the worst case scenario, you have time to CREATE a best case scenario.

From Driver's Ed to Pro Football: Lessons from Carolina Panthers General Manager, Dave Gettleman

yearbook

In my 1979 High School yearbook, David Gettleman, past (very recent past, sadly),General Manager for the Carolina Panthers writes, ‘To the woman who helped me maintain my sanity in the Driver’s Ed car, it has been a treat getting to know you.’ Gettleman was our High School Football Coach and my Driver’s Ed teacher at Spackenkill High School in Poughkeepsie NY. He was a popular teacher, tough on his football players, and committed to helping teens be responsible drivers.

As a self-described ‘grinder’, he worked hard and expected us to do the same. In his Driver’s Ed car, if you veered out of your lane, took out a mailbox, drove up on the sidewalk, or turned your eyes away from the road to giggle with a friend in the back seat, he insisted you pull over somewhere safe and we would have a ‘little chat’. In our chats, he impressed up on us the importance of driving responsibly, and living responsibly. Here are some of my takeaways from his lessons:

1. Master the basics first. Ignition, seatbelt, surroundings, accelerate, brake, signal. Gettleman never let us leave the parking space without covering the basics.

What are the basics in your business? Have you mastered them?

1. Create healthy habits through disciplined practice. Gettleman reminded us of the rules of safe driving every single class. By the end of the semester, we did them without thinking. Do you even remember your own drive to work this morning?

What healthy habits do you need to create? What power would you have if you could do it without even thinking?

1. Build depth and breadth in your field by practicing more complicated maneuvers like parallel parking or three point turns. Gettleman invested hours with us practicing parallel parking. When we insisted we would never need to parallel park, he reminded us that the skills learned in parallel parking made you a more masterful driver.

Where do you need to build depth and breadth so you can have mastery in your field?

1. Anticipate risk. Gettleman said if we learned to drive defensively, we’d be better prepared for the unexpected, and better able to handle it when it inevitably shows up. We spent time understanding the risks and hazards encountered when driving and how to handle them. As a result, we were better prepared.

What risks should you anticipate in your business, in your industry and how can you create a defensive strategy?

These four simple lessons from David Gettleman and his approach to Driver’s Ed provide a solid foundation for responsible driving, and for responsible business. Thank you, Gettleman and Go Panthers!