Even though running your own business gives you many freedoms, everyone still has those days or even weeks of wondering, “Shall I stay or shall I go?” Sometimes this thought becomes persistent instead of a passing phase – and for your own financial future and that of your business, you need to be able to recognise signals that mean the right moment has come to consider selling your business.
This is never an easy decision, especially as the amount of stress and constant pressure that a business owner contends with will play havoc with the decision-making process.
Having engaged with hundreds of business owners over the years, we see the five most solid signals that prompt them to sell are:
1.Retirement
This is the single most common factor influencing the decision to sell a business. Whatever age you have chosen as your retirement goal, if you are approaching this then give yourself an opportunity to assess both the benefits and challenges of having your own business.
Have you considered an exit strategy, such as hiring someone else to run the business instead of you? Or, as in many cases, does your business represents your most valuable asset? In this case, it would need to be cashed out at some stage as this would represent your pension. Selling your business successfully and fetching maximum value could well be critical to ensure that your retirement is well supported by financial surplus.
2.Lifestyle Change
Growing a business can be an infinite journey. Have you reached your goals with this business and do you have the appetite for the ‘next chapter’? Or do you want to move off into a completely new business direction? Perhaps you would prefer to follow a passion of yours or spend extra time with your family, investing more time in yourself and them to counter the massive investment of time and energy that you have made over the years.
3.You are ‘gatvol’
We often underestimate what it takes to live life as an entrepreneur and the amount of compounded pressure we ‘on-board’ over the years. Whether it is customers, suppliers, staff or the banks, you know this stress has reached a decisive, even destructive level if you can’t shrug it off and instead you find yourself repeatedly saying, ‘Enough is enough!’
4.Building a business versus running a business
Go back to the beginning of when you started your business. Do you remember the passion, fire and motivation that drove you to achieving your first sale? How about that sense of achievement as you hit the subsequent milestones? All that represented the very DNA that you have as an entrepreneur – but as your business grew, so did everyone and everything you need manage on a daily basis. Do you find yourself being more of a human resources manager than that entrepreneur with that fire in your belly? Is running a business enough to motivate you and drive your core DNA?
Perhaps this is the signal for you to sell the larger business that you have developed to someone with the skills and interest in the administration it requires. Selling your business would free you up to apply your entrepreneurial skills in a new context.
5.You can’t do it on your own
In many cases you may still have time and energy to keep growing your business – but you may recognise that you are not willing and able to do this yourself. Sometimes you would appreciate a ‘big brother’ who can share the load. This could equate to a partner injecting money into your business, taking on some of your risk or opening up new opportunities for you and your business. This has become more and more prevalent in South Africa with the BEE codes and pressure on certain industries. Bringing on the right strategic partner to help you navigate uncharted waters is a critical step to take in your eventual exit strategy.
Decoding the signals that suggest it might be time to sell all or part of your business means that you will make the right decisions to stay or go based on sound reasoning. Remember that this is one of the few times in your life that you truly get ‘one shot’ to get it right.
