The closing day for selling your business has arrived. After months of information gathering and grueling negotiations, you can finally relax and breathe a huge sigh of relief. The emotional warfare stage is over
Not exactly. While the warfare phase may have ended, you must still deal with the complex emotions of letting go.
For years, your identity has revolved around owning and building a business. No matter what type of deal you signed when you sold it, expect to wrestle with conflicting emotions in the aftermath.
If you agreed to stay with the company for a few months or a couple of years, realize that the transition from owner to employee can be stressful. This is especially true if your post-sale role isn’t clearly defined. But it can be eased if you keep your owner’s mindset and look for ways to continue to help the business succeed.
If a family member or a former member of your management team has taken over, resist the temptation to interfere. It’s not your business anymore, and the new owner may be trying to steer the business in a new direction. If they ask for your advice, give it. But in order to psychologically move on from the business, focus on creating the next chapter of your life, whether that’s a fulfilling retirement or a new business start-up.
If you have sold to a private equity firm, do what you can to help the post-sale transition succeed. Help their team learn more about your industry and make some of the connections needed to thrive. Help reassure your former employees and urge them to keep an open mind. Suggest how the sale could give them new opportunities for growth. While the new owners will make changes and may take your business in a new direction, you want to always be remembered as a positive force in the company’s history.
My Own Business-Sale Story
As I explain in my memoir, “They Named You Right,” I was only 39 when I sold my share of the business my father had purchased after playing a pivotal role in growing it.
Relinquishing my share of the business I had worked tirelessly for since I was a teenager was very difficult. After 19 months of tough negotiations (led by my sell-side advisors), the deal closed and I walked away a rich man. I had achieved the dream of every entrepreneur and become a multi-millionaire before I turned 40.
It should have been like a Super Bowl victory for me, but I had no one to celebrate with. My marriage was over, and my kids wouldn’t be there when I got home. My father didn’t want to talk to me and some of my family members resented me.
When I finished my solo pity party, I drove to the plant to say good-bye to my friends and foes. On the production floor, I said good-bye to everyone who had supported me. There were many hugs and tears.
Then I was off to my next chapter. I left the plant and went straight to my newly leased office space for my new business – the LaManna Alliance. Before the deal for my label-converting and specialty graphics business had closed, I recognized that I was too young to retire but had the network, experience, and education to become a consultant.
I ended up seizing the opportunity to start and sell another business before recognizing my true strength in life was helping other business owners be better prepared for their own sales of their companies.
You can read all about the hard lessons I learned – and the complicated dynamics of family businesses – in my memoir. For a limited time, download the digital version for free.