In This Episode
What happens when you decide it’s time to retire and step away from your business? We find most people, including business owners, don’t have a good answer for this question. Too many will throw out platitudes along the lines that they’ll spend more time with family and friends, traveling, vacationing, playing golf or tennis. The list goes on, but in reality they’ve never really given this question much thought.
So what we find is that most folks will jump into something else. During the show we brought up examples of well known folks like Jeff Bezos who recently “retired” from Amazon to jump full time into his space company as well as some other non-profit pursuits. And he appears to be really enjoying himself. But it didn’t just happen the day after he retired. He’d been preparing for that exit for a while. In fact, space travel is something that has interested him since he was a kid.
Do you have some interests like that which you haven’t pursued or really thought about since your childhood? Perhaps it’s something you’ve seen more as a hobby over the years or a distraction. Could this hobby be something you focus more time on now that you’re free from the shackles of having to earn a paycheck every day? Maybe there is some volunteer work you’ve been pushing off because you “didn’t have the time” to do it while you were working.
The point is, you likely don’t know the answers today. One of the things we encourage folks who are looking to buy a company to do is to “turn over rocks.” In the case of buying a company that means looking at a lot of different types of companies to find something that is a fit for you. When it comes to what do you do next after leaving your company, that could involve lots of other rocks. A good place to start is with folks who Know Like and Trust you. Chances are they are wrestling with a lot of the same questions you are and by simply talking through it with each other you are likely to make some good progress on figuring out what to focus on next.
People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show
- Jeff Bezos goes to Space (https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/20/tech/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-launch-scn/index.html)
- Jimmy Buffett Retirement Community (https://www.latitudemargaritaville.com)
Join Us Next Time
Join us next week when we will help you figure out the answer to the question, How Do I Know It’s Time To Sell My Business. We find this is one of those questions that most business owners put off until it’s too late.
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