Let’s just call it hypothetical. It can happen to each of us. I suspect that most of us are expecting it, and I now suspect that few if any of us are really ready to face it well. A serious offer to buy your business gets put in your lap. OMG!!!

If it’s a fire sale, we know what needs to be done to save the situation. If it’s the result of your efforts to sell the thing, no big problem because you’ve had a good reason to put the plan in motion. But an offer out of the blue? It’s a life changer. You’re going to think a lot differently from that moment on.

Try this on and see if it fits.

It’s been your business. You’ve been in control of every aspect of the business since you ascended to the CEO / Owner / President chair. You’ve probably chose every person (except family) that sits in every executive seat. They are your choices. You’ve set policy and tuned it every time it became obvious that an update was needed. You’ve controlled pricing, customer relations and when to pay bills. You’ve approved the Mission Statement, the website and the social medial strategy. You’ve decided when you’d be in your office and nobody was consulted on that. The list goes on-and-on of the things – big and small –  you’ve controlled for years.

The day after you take the check, you are in control of nothing but your bank account. And maybe that doesn’t matter.  How in the world should you have gotten prepared for this? I’ve no idea but its mighty challenging. Do you talk about this in your forums? If anybody has any advice that they’d let me share next month. I’d be grateful.

“If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.  EFBC, 20 Years Deep”

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