Today I had a chat with a Business Owner, who had started down the process of taking her business to market.
The Sellability Score had been completed. We were confident it would be sold and she was good to go… and then she went on a holiday. Today’s conversation was all about closing the doors instead.
Why?
Because she no longer had the stomach for the business, literally.
Given the nature of its structure, some form of “earn out” was on the cards. However the thought of hanging around any longer, post holiday, was almost making her physically sick.
To have such a reaction, the decision to close the doors, as at the end of the financial year, was an easy one to make. If you cannot literally go into the office, then it’s time to get out. Even if others may not necessarily want that as the outcome!
To her credit, she is the first to recognise that had she gone down the path, when still “in-love” with her business, then off to market we would have gone. As much as she was confident in our abilities to sell it, the process had started way too late for it to come to fruition.
Moral of story: if you’re starting to think about getting out in the future, start the process now. Not to take it to market but to understand how Saleable your business is and then what to do about it when the time comes.
Start with the End in Mind today, regardless of how old your business is, is a mantra you should be following…
