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What Will You Do When It's Time To Quit Your Small Business?
With Pope Benedict XVI's recent announcement to step down from his leadership position in the Catholic church, many small business owners may be thinking about what they will do if and when it's time to quit their small business.
It's not a pleasant thing to contemplate I suppose, but the reality is that all of us are growing and changing with each passing year. Our lives change. Our families change. We move to different cities. We become ill. Our family members become ill. We have children. We get married. We get divorced. We are injured.
A million things, big and small, can come up to send the message that it's time to make a change. Sometimes the change will be to step up our entrepreneurial game, play bigger, take the next leap, expand and grow.
Other times, the change will be to let some things go. Let them go forever? Let them go temporarily? It will depend, but let's face it. Sometimes, we do have to quit some of it or all of it in order to move to the next stage of our lives, whatever that may be.
The Pope is quitting. Media reports say that the decision was planned in advance because his energy is failing. That's not a surprise, considering he's 85 years old.
What About You?
Will you still be running your business when you're 85? Maybe. Maybe not.
What is your plan? Are you considering quitting now?
Planning to quit in the future?
It will be different for all of us. But there will come a time when it will be time to quit.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Have you considered it? What will you do when it's time to quit your small business?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ginger Moore - Neos Creations on -
I don't even want to think about quitting. Really, I don't. It's such a huge part of me and I enjoy what I do much too much for that prospect to even be in my thoughts. But I suppose at some point, I will have to consider laying down my gloves and goggles, set aside my lotion pots and say, I retire. By that time, I truly hope that all is such a well oiled machine with all the cogs and wheels in place that I can step away from my CEO desk, hand the keys to my son and know that I'm passing on the potential and he is carrying on a family tradition.
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Permalink Reply by Maia Roberts Singletary on -
Interesting topic! There's some fear there. Late last year my family went through some growing pains and I was faced with the idea of quitting. I came close. I've been doing this for years, growing slowly because I haven't taken the right steps or been afraid to give it a real go. But something, let's call it divine intervention, knocked me over the head and forced me to kick it into gear instead of quitting. After almost 5 years, I finally legally structured my business, ramped up social media, and am serious about growth. Next step IBN membership!I know I have a long way to go and much to prove but I'm no longer afraid that I might one day quit and move on. As for the future, one of my goals is to put systems in place so what I build can one day run without me.
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Permalink Reply by Kismet Andrews - Bar-Maids, LLC on -
Such an important topic and one that should be built into every Business Plan. The Exit Strategy.
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Permalink Reply by Marge Clark on -
Dm, have you been reading my Journal? The time is coming; I need to slow down. Ideally I'd love to be able to sell NG, and stay on as a consultant, working a few hours a week instead of 60 or 70. But...the current crew is not yet at a place where they can replace me, and do all that I do. I'm not even sure what the next steps should be. I do know that I am getting tons of spam from people offering to sell my business for me. (And that may be the best solution, but not from some spammer out of no where!) I *need* to put together an "exit plan" but have no idea where to start. (This is where my lack of business training really comes back and gets me!)
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Permalink Reply by IBN Member Joan Morais on -
Great article Donna Maria!
Letting go is one of the hardest things in life. Letting go of a house, a relationship, a business, a job, a pet, a loved one, etc. Yet, it is the holding on that causes more suffering. Our truth and what we should be doing is waiting for us and propels us to a new understanding of who we are and the next step. All throughout life we face things that aren't working for us anymore, at one time it did but then it no longer feels good to us. The process keeps repeating itself, something else we have been clinging to needs to be let go of. Holding on is stifling, suffocating and painful. Letting go is freeing.
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Permalink Reply by Alyssa Middleton on -
Great article, dM. It's definitely something we all need to think about long before we're ready to retire or sell the business. My exit strategy has changed over the years as has my timeline in which I think I'll move on. But when the time comes, it'll be less stressful by having mapped out the plan in advance.
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Permalink Reply by Maggie Smith on
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When it comes time to quit my business and that is not very far in the future I will simply let it run it's course. My products are vibrational in nature and my intention and energy, plus the flower essence remedies I put into each bottle would change if someone else created them. I doubt someone would want to run such a personally created business. It will go the direction it needs to go, having served for 15 years the purpose of bringing flower essences and essential oils into the lives of those who want and need them to support the change they want to be. If someone wanted to buy it when I am ready I would consider the proposition and if it felt they were headed in the same direction as I envision I would take it. It has been my passion since 1958 and Flower Essences have changed my life.
Bramble Berry
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