What do you think? Is retirement the same as death to you as the CEO of your business? Is it worse than death? Based on the numbers, many CEOs think so. They are resisting, ignoring, denying and procrastinating on planning for retirement or what I call their reinvention.
Entrepreneurs in the US for the most part are stuck. They are working hard long hours to create an income stream. If they stop working, there’s no income.
Their mistake and possibly yours is that there is no exit, and never will be, if you only focus on generating an income stream, whether to pay your salary or to meet payroll.
Without a wealth plan in place, a wealth plan produced from profits, retirement might as well be death because those same hardworking CEOs have no assets to walk away with, no assets to invest for their future.
When I talk to some CEOs and the subject of retirement comes up – you would think I was talking about their mortality. They equate any form of leaving the business as death. They live for the business. They have become so immersed in the business; that they’ve lost sight of the purpose of commercial enterprise, their commercial enterprise.
The purpose of all commerce is to make a profit.
When a CEO can turn a profit and exit on their terms and timeline, that’s a successful exit.
My assumption is that at some point, every CEO wants to liquidate their position in the company they built/own, whether to:
- fund their next step, even if it’s not a classic retirement;
- secure the future for their family and loved ones;
- or fulfill the terms of a will or trust.
Even those CEOs who resist planning their exit, do procrastinate; often because they don’t know what to do or how to do it. No one intends to leave their business feet first without a plan for its continued success, but in epidemic proportions, the current generation of CEOs just don’t initiate and implement a timely exit plan.
If I ask the question again: Is retirement the same as death to you? What will you do to change that in your business?
When a CEO can walk away from the business with liquidity to fund their reinvention on their terms, instead of a rocking chair, knitting needles or fishing pole; that’s not retirement or death. That’s freedom and financial independence. You can too.
To avoid potential pitfalls that could potentially derail your exit transaction and transition to reinvention following that event, plans and strategies need to be in place well before the deal is on the table. Please contact our office if you would like to discuss your objectives and timeline in confidence.
Kerri Salls
Exit Strategist
