E47: Stewarding Well Through Transition: Selling a Business and Finding Purpose

According to research from the Exit Planning Institute, only 20% of businesses will successfully transfer or sell, while 80% will not. And in that 20% of businesses that do manage to sell, 75% of those owners profoundly regret selling within one year of the transaction.

In this episode, Eric Scovill discusses important factors for business owners to consider when deciding whether and when to sell their company. He discusses reasons for selling a business, some steps business owners should take before a sale, what life after the sale looks like, and the importance of maintaining purpose and priorities like one's relationship with God.

Here are some topics from today’s discussion:

• Reasons to sell a business
• Preparing for sale: adopting buyer's perspective, valuing intangibles 
• Life after sale: potential identity crisis, maintaining purpose

Episode Highlights:

[02:38] Reasons to Sell a Business

Here are three key reasons Eric discussed for potentially selling a business:

1. Reducing risk - Owning a business represents the majority of most owners' net worth, making it a highly concentrated risk. Selling allows diversifying into less risky assets.
2. Succession planning - An owner may want to sell as they age out of running the business at full capacity or recognize new leadership is needed to take it to the next level.
3. Health concerns - The stress and long hours required to run a business can negatively impact one's health over time. Selling may allow an owner more balance to prioritize their well-being.

[13:09] Stewarding Your Legacy

Eric explains that if a business owner's goal after selling is to produce an income stream with similar tax advantages as their business, they will likely need to invest in alternative asset classes like real estate, royalties, or private placements. However, Eric cautions that stepping into investments as a truly passive form of income could remove the owner from their area of expertise. Instead, he suggests it may be better to bring in managers to continue running the existing business rather than attempting to replicate the income as a novice investor in new asset classes. 

[20:20] Adopting a Buyer’s Mindset

Some of the key strategies Eric discussed for adopting a buyer's mindset when preparing a business for sale included:

• Focus your financial reporting and metrics on what a buyer wants to see (ex.a breakeven business with recurring revenue and low accounts receivable)
• Value intangible aspects like having strong, hungry managers in place who can continue running the business successfully.
• Ensure the business is not overly dependent on the current owner and that it would still function well without them. Make sure value is represented in the systems and operations, not just the individual.
• View contracts, supplier relationships, margins, and other areas from the perspective of how an acquirer could further improve them, rather than being satisfied with the status quo.

Resources Mentioned:

Generational Equity

Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge

To Whom Much is Given by Jay Link

Halftime by Bob Buford