Moving on to a new stage in life means ensuring both the business and the owner are ready for that transition. If the owner is ready and the business isn’t, the owner may end up leaving money on the table as they exit with fewer options, lower offers, and feeling like they are painted into a corner. If the business is ready and the owner isn’t, the owner may abandon a perfectly good deal or miss opportunities because they are held back by their mindset, identity, or any of the other six personal indicators of readiness.

Here at Eagle, much of the strategic work we do is with an eye toward synchronizing personal readiness and business readiness. While the two dynamics are linked and will improve together, it’s not always a simple relationship. Let’s look at how that plays out.

How are business readiness and owner readiness related?

Owner readiness and business readiness are linked in that a business cannot be fully optimized for transition if an owner isn’t also personally ready. How well prepared a business is for transition will be impacted by things like:

• Day-to-day operations depending on the owner
• An owner not putting thought and planning into their personal life
• Team leaders not having authority to make decisions without the owner
• An owner not having a separate identity outside their business
• The company’s public image being tied to the owner themselves
• An owner not having enough capital to live the way they want after exit

These are just a few examples of how an owner’s identity, mindset, balance, capital, legacy, and awareness will affect the value of the business itself and the success of any potential future transaction. Working on the value of the business and the owner’s readiness must take place in tandem so that progress happens incrementally, side-by-side. An owner obtains the freedom to choose when to transition once both have reached the right point, together.

This synchronized improvement of business fundamentals and personal readiness indicators works together, as improved owner habits and mindset play a role in getting the business where it should be. When this finally happens, the whole ends up larger than the sum of its parts.

Once a business has reached its full potential and an owner has done the work to achieve personal readiness, we often see a burst of excitement from that owner. They suddenly see their work paying off and become eager to enter that new phase. Reaching these goals puts the owner in a position of power, able choose when and how to take their next step.

A good test is whether an owner can step away for 30 days. For that type of extended vacation, the business must be able to function independently, and the owner must be emotionally prepared to separate themselves from the work.

Once a business is running smoothly, with all eight business fundamentals adjusted and working well, ideally it should continue operating at that level, like a well-oiled machine. By definition, having all aspects optimized means that a business essentially runs on its own and will continue Performing Higher. This includes, among other things, having a leadership team in place with a succession plan for all leadership positions, and ensuring operations run effortlessly, with plans and processes in place to adjust when necessary.

At Eagle, once we’ve helped an owner maximize the value of their business and reach a level of personal readiness themselves, we continue having workshops to maintain that level of readiness and build up the strength of the team for the next level of growth.

There are many unexpected things that can derail the synchronization of owner readiness and business readiness: lawsuits, medical issues, loss of a big client, or economic downturn. As a result, the leadership team needs to be ready to adapt and overcome any type of challenge that could hit.

Once an owner understands they are personally ready, and their business can function independently, their newfound freedom can lead to insights and possibly new directions. They might decide to retain ownership longer and wait a few years to pass the business on to a child. Or they might be even more motivated to sell and move toward that new chapter in life they have begun enjoying. Helping business owners Perform Higher and find that freedom, and insight, is why Eagle exists.

As difficult as it is to assess how your business is truly performing, it can be even more difficult to take stock of your own personal readiness. Business owners often don’t realize whether they and their business are synchronized and ready for transition. Eagle helps gather this information and can shed light on what needs work and when to address each area.

Are you, as a business owner, walking in step with the progress of both your business and your personal readiness to transition? Take our online assessments to gauge how you, and your business, are performing right now. Then call us to schedule a one-to-one consultation to discuss strategies to get you where you want to be.