When is it time to move on?
By Nina Kaufman, Esq.I just got off the phone with a client who wants to close his landscaping business.
Brian is successful and talented. And relatively young (late 30s). But it was just too much darn work, and Brian was growing to hate it. He had tried shifting his model from taking new projects to focus only on maintenance. He looked at partnering with similar companies. He explored ways to extract more value from the business.
Could he keep at it? Possibly.
For Brian, it comes down to this:
His heart just isn’t in it anymore.
Deciding to close a business is not easy. It’s hard to let go of a dream.
4th quarter can be a good time to explore this as it’s a season of “closing.” The year comes to a close. Many companies close for the holidays. And sometimes, taking a short break makes you wonder … would I rather take a long break? Do I want to come back at all?
It’s a hard decision to make on your own.
There are lots of business details involved, like
- What happens to my employees?
- Who will take over my clients?
- How can I get out of my lease?
- What legal and tax issues should I expect?
- When should I cancel insurance?
As well as the personal issues—such as, Can my family and I afford it?—where your loved ones bring their own concerns and biases to the conversation.
That’s why you want to explore these issues with someone who’s objective. Who’s on your side to help you design a business that supports your life, and let it go when it’s no longer working for you. Who can identify all the business, legal, tax, insurance, and personal questions to ask so you have a solid game plan for moving forward.
That someone is me.
So if you’re having those uneasy feelings that maybe it’s time to move on, don’t suffer in silence.
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