Exit Planning’s Emotional Side

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When you sell a business, it’s not just a matter of hiring a team of experts like accountants, lawyers, financial planners, business brokers, and exit planning specialists to make the deal happen. You also need to consider the emotional impact of saying goodbye to your business. The Exit Planning Institute (EPI) found that nearly 80% of business owners regret selling their business within a year of the sale, and many struggle with the loss for years after.

To avoid these feelings of regret, it’s important to change how you think about retirement. Instead of retiring from something, focus on retiring to something. Owning a business gives you a sense of purpose, well-being, and community that you can lose in retirement, which can even shorten your life.

Planning your exit means figuring out what comes next and identifying new sources of purpose, well-being, and community. By asking yourself questions like “What are we going to do?” you can start this process. If you’re currently spending 50-60 hours a week working in or on your business, how will you fill those hours after you exit?

It’s also essential to prepare for the grief that comes with letting go of your business. Grieving the loss of a business is like grieving the loss of a loved one, and there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Planning your exit means acknowledging and navigating through these stages, which don’t always happen in order, and finding ways to cope. By preparing for these emotions, you can make the business sale go more smoothly.

To sum it up, selling your business isn’t just about the sale itself, it’s also about your personal transition. By recognising and grieving the loss of your business early on, you can leave it on your own terms and make the emotional side of exit planning easier to handle.



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