Confronting the Emotional Reality of Selling a Business

Selling your business is one of the most serious, and life changing, decisions that most people will ever make. Yet, as substantial of a decision as this may be, far too often business owners fail to consider the emotional side of selling their business. Not begin emotionally ready to sell, or being overly emotional when it comes time to sell, can negatively impact your sales experience and maybe even lead to failure.

Let’s explore what sellers need to do in order to be ready to sell their business and move on. Keep in mind that an Inbar Group business broker in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts or Maine will be happy to help you strategize.

Selling a Business is Life-Changing

First, it is vital that you, as a seller, realize that your life will change after you sell your business. It is common for business owners to invest a great deal of their time, energy, creativity and thought into the successful establishment, operation and growth of their business. Walking away from that sense of accomplishment, and sense of identity can be challenging for many, if not most, business owners. It is important that you acknowledge that this challenge does exist and adapt accordingly.

Plan for the Future

Part of adapting to the fact that your life will change after you sell your business is to have a plan for the future. Business owners often don’t know what to do once they have sold their business. Whether it is what to do with their time or how to proceed financially, many don’t have a plan for how to deal with a future that no longer includes operating their business. In short, you need to be ready for what comes next and that means planning well in advance. The first step would be to get a business valuation in New Jersey or the state where you live.

Employee Relationships

Another emotional side to selling a business is saying goodbye to employees. Business owners often discover, if they didn’t realize it already, that their employees were like a second family. Or at the very least, employees are a group of friends to which they have, to some extent, bonded. No longer having these employees in their lives can create an emotional hole that is often unexpected and hard to fill.

Client Relationships

And it is not just employees that business owners often find that they miss. Quite often business owners sell only to discover that they miss the interaction they were having with everyone from customers and clients to suppliers and many others. Operating a business usually means dealing with the public and many other people. If you’ve built your life around your business, you may discover an emotional void when your business is gone.

At the end of the day, it is vital that you examine whether or not you are ready to sell your business. Business owners will usually zero in on the financial aspects of selling, but all too often business owners fail to factor in the emotional aspects that invariably come with it. Contact an Inbar Group business broker in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, or Maine to help you get the process started.