SIGN UP FOR FREE | SIGN IN
Thinkers360

Is Your Company Saleable - from a People Standpoint?

Nov01



Often times a business owner is ready to leave their business, by selling it or retiring, and they face the rude awakening that the company isn't ready!

 A lot of elements go into exiting your business. Not just ownership or financials.

Will the company be able to run without you? Or, if you step away, does the company in all practicality cease to exist?

This is exactly the situation that Jeff and Spencer Jan, the brothers who created the Solo Stove, faced. When their company had reached $7M they decided they would sell it. They consulted an advisor to start the process and were told: You don't have anything to sell. The brothers were shocked. What do you mean? It's a $7M business! BUT YOU ARE THE BUSINESS, replied the advisor.  You do all the logistics, all the manufacturing, all the customer service, all the finance... when you walk away, there is no business anymore.

Does this story sound even slightly similar to your situation?

If you intend to pass the torch to a younger generation – familial or not - have you prepared them to run the company?

Even if you intend to sell, as the Jan brothers did, the company needs to be self-sufficient and on a continued path of success for it to be enticing to buyers.

So here are three tips (from the people domain) to ensure your company is ready for succession:

  1. You have a leadership team in place that has been in place for at least three years and functions well without your input. Essentially, you could show up to work or not, it doesn't matter.
  2. Every key leader in your organization has at least one person who could fill their role – and preferably two people: one who could fill the role on an emergency basis and one who they are grooming to replace them at some point.
  3. There are no lone-rangers who could effectively bring the company down if you were to lose them – an IT person, a regional manager, someone with a specific license you are dependent on.

I hope you just shouted Whew! We’re good! But if you didn’t… drop me a note, here, to strategize.

By Nanette Miner, Ed.D.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, HR, Leadership

Share this article
Search
How do I climb the Thinkers360 thought leadership leaderboards?
What enterprise services are offered by Thinkers360?
How can I run a B2B Influencer Marketing campaign on Thinkers360?