"No-one on their death bed ever wished they had spent more time at the office!"
This is a fairly well known quote by the late Stephen Covey, author of "The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People". He was saying your business life shouldn't be your whole life.
Covey's quote is so true for business owners, many of whom seem to get so caught up in the day-to-day running of their business that they sacrifice other very important areas of life. Are you sacrificing things such as health and well-being, family and home life, social life, hobbies and so on and so on? Do you have a business or is it a "job for life"?
Often it is because the business owner is operating in survival mode or always in 'grow' mode. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, we will always address 'survival needs' before others. For example, if the room you are sitting in now suddenly caught fire, you would lose all interest in this article and hightail it out of there!
I believe the COVID pandemic has made many business owners, the older ones in particular, stop and think about their personal lives and what is the end game for their business. A business should be a vehicle to create the lifestyle the business owner wants and deserves and an asset that they can sell. Work to live don't live for work.
Another Covey saying is "Begin with the end in mind." Always have a plan of how you will exit your business because everyone does at some point. You want it to be on your terms and you want to be able to exit for a big payout and without any legal action after the sale. Plan and prepare now! You will have a much happier business life on the way through if you know you will have a great outcome on exit.
A business should always be 'sale ready' because a business that's ready for sale is well worth keeping. Grow your business into a saleable asset so that you want to keep it forever but could sell it tomorrow.
So how can a business owner turn their business into a saleable asset and exit with equity when they WANT TO? Preferably before they HAVE TO due to some unforeseen event.
The secret to having a business ready for sale is in the preparation and planning:
- Know what your business is worth
- Increase its value
- Turn it into a magnet for buyers
- Understand the business sale process
- Present the business to attract the best buyers
- Prepare yourself for the sale
- Sell through a broker or sell yourself?
But nothing happens until there is ACTION. Take action now and schedule a call with me to discuss how I can help you get your business ready for sale because a business that's ready for sale is well worth keeping. Alternatively, work on your business in a group. Read on!
ACTION changes things. It's often the START that STOPS people! A good starting point is to join a Business Owners Taking Action (BOTA) group and get both group mentoring and individual coaching. Implement great systems in all areas of the business: operations, finance, sales and marketing, governance, selection and recruitment, training etc. Learn from other business owners and 'subject matter experts'.
Business Owners Taking Action are confidential support groups of motivated, positive business owners working ON their businesses. There are no competing businesses or ‘other agendas’ in a group. No one is there to sell you anything. It is NOT a referral group or a networking session! It is a working group to educate owners and help grow their businesses.
I started the Mentoring Group Process in 2008 as an effective, affordable, and results-oriented process for small business owners. I offer both face-to-face and online, as well as private one-to-one mentoring. Some of my members have been with me for over a decade which is testimony to how valuable they find it.
If you are a business owner and want to know more about the Business Owners Taking Action group and how you can attend one of our group meetings free of charge click the button below. Alternatively, if you'd like to discuss a business saleability check on your business, schedule a call with me.