Who loses When You Leave Unexpectedly?

by Rick White, President 180BIZ                                                             (Estimated Read Time 5 minutes)

Today is about loss. What I mean by that is you're so busy getting to the end of the day, the end of the week, at the end of the month, and focused on just getting by that you don't think of the bigger picture. I don't mean this in an insulting way, but the reality is it happens. You don't think of what could happen, you getting sick or someone in your family getting sick and having your business be able to go on without you. I want to talk a little bit about what not having an exit strategy or succession plan looks like.

You are negatively impacted.

The first person negatively impacted by not having an exit strategy is you the owner. We all know about the blood, sweat, and tears that you put into the business. That has huge value to you, but you can't sell it.

You will retire at some point. Many of us put so much emphasis on being able to sell the business. That is our nest egg. When you don't have a plan, when you don't create a runway and execute that plan, you're putting your retirement security and financial well-being at risk. If you suddenly get sick or pass away, you are hampering your family's ability to take care of themselves. That's a big deal.

Your successor is negatively impacted.

The second person that this affects is your successor. The person who will carry the torch. The one you’ll hand the torch off to and they will take it even further than you did.  Now you're taking that opportunity away from them. You're making it so that they have to start on their own. If you had been really up to speed on this and had that plan in place, they would've been able to stand on your shoulders and be able to see and do even more.

Your staff is negatively impacted.

The third group of people who miss out are your employees and your team members. Why? Because they lose a job they love. They lose a destination, they lose a purpose, they lose the why, and now they must start searching for another shop that's going to treat them the way you do. That's going to keep them cohesive the way you do. That's going to give them a focus and a future like you do. And that's hard.

Your employees' families are negatively impacted.

The next group we're going to talk about is your employees' families and your team members' families. Why? Because they lose their financial security and stability. Now, instead of feeling comfortable and feeling good about what's going on, knowing that their significant other is happy and energized by what they do now they have to go through not only financial insecurity and instability but also have to be there and watch their loved one go through the turmoil and struggle of finding another shop like yours. Let's just be honest, there'll never be another one like yours.

Your clients are negatively impacted.

The next group is your clients. Your clients have come to depend upon you and your team. Your clients trust you. Your clients don't see you as a repair shop. They see you as a trusted advisor who is there to help them, to keep them safe, and to help keep their vehicle reliable and as efficient as possible. And now they have to go on a search to find another shop where they can begin the process all over again.

If your shop had that exit strategy in place that you could turn on at any time, it wouldn't change. It wouldn't feel different because someone else is taking over. They know how you do things and they're going to continue it and even make it better.

Your community is negatively impacted.

And the last group that I want to talk to you about is your community. When the business is vacant, vandalism, drugs, and lack of taxes even can hamper the neighborhood. What was once thriving can go down pretty quickly, and it's amazing how one empty building can start that process. And what about how involved you are in the community? What about how you are a great corporate citizen, where you're not just in the community to take and take and take, but you recognize that it's a symbiotic relationship and you are there to help the community any way you possibly can.

Later is not your friend.

As you're thinking through this whole exit strategy thing, you're probably thinking it would be nice and I'll do it later. Please recognize that later is not your friend. All these people are going to unnecessarily suffer. Including you and your family. It doesn't have to be that way. Think about this. You have a son or daughter who wants to take over the shop, but it's not ready yet. Then something happens to you and they jump into your shoes. Do you want to give them your shop in its current condition?

Working on your business results in magical things happening.

But when you start to work on the business, not just to get to the end of the day, but working on the business to create something bigger and better than you are, magical things happen.

I'm going to ask you to please share this video. There are people out there who need to hear this message so that we can get their noses out of just getting to the end of the day and moving forward.  

Check out our Shop Owners’ Round Table on the second Thursday of each month at 7PM Eastern Time.  Our Pocket Business Genius has over 70 recorded webinars and one live webinar each month.  I’d love to see you there.

God bless. stay safe, have some fun, and go make some money.