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What people have to share here is amazing and so helpful to me as my countdown continues. The collective wisdom here is priceless.
I'd like to reach out to anyone here who is retired and was self-employed prior to retiring. I'm interested in how you arranged your exit strategy and any challenges you faced in doing so. Did you sell or just close shop? How emotionally challenging was it for your to "let go". And anything else you can share to help this 61-year young retiree candidate who has been self-employed for over 35 years.
I'm not retired, but I've been self-employed for years and have owned various businesses. Perhaps I can help you.
For my service-type businesses, depending upon the amount of time and the reason for closing this is what I did:
1. If I had enough time, I sold the business. I went to a business broker (you can Google ones in your area). They advertised the business for sale and brought me a list of questions that perspective buyers had. I would then supply the answers. I gave the business broker a current Income Statement and Balance sheet and 3 years of tax returns to show perspective buyers. I did not tell my employees what I was doing. The employees did not find out until after the sale took place and their jobs continued with the new owner. I stayed on for one month in order to help with the transition and answer any questions the new owner had.
2. For my service business where I didn't have enough time to sell, I wrote a letter to all of my clients letting them know that I would be closing the business as of X date. I did not take on new clients. I did not take appointments after X date. I made sure that every one of my clients had everything they would need to find someone else to do business with and sometimes I recommended a competitor.
3. For my retail business I sold it the same way that I sold the service business, except the inventory had to be valued the night before the sale took place and that value was added to the sales price. If the business had not sold I had planned to have a going out of business sale and any inventory that was not sold would have been donated.
As for the emotional challenge, that depended upon the reason for the sale and how much I liked the work I was doing. Originally I was in an auto accident that left me very injured. I was really unemployable so I did this work to support myself. As I healed and was able to advance myself I felt proud both that I had created a business that could be sold, and that I was finally able to do more difficult tasks. I felt sad that I was leaving people who had become important to me and who were kind enough to use my services while I recovered, but I knew I was leaving them in good hands.
When I sold the retail store I felt very sad because I really loved that store and had poured my heart into it. But I believed that there was going to be a recession in Florida and that my business was not recession-proof and that I would do better by moving to a place where the economy would be better. As it turned out, the recession was all over the USA but I did manage to pick a state that was not as hard hit as FL. It took me several years to stop missing that store.
People on this site, and books I read about retirement, all say that you are happiest in retirement if you are retiring to something rather than retiring from something. So, when you sell your business, make sure you have something that you are looking forward to doing. I found this to be true even when I wasn't retiring. Selling my business and moving forward into something I looked forward to creating and working at really did help to ease the feelings of loss.
Thank you for your detailed reply LookingatFL. I see you've been there and done it. My business is one in which there's an active market of buyers and sellers and yes I have contacted and retained a business broker specializing in my profession.
I really enjoyed your sharing about the emotions because that's the hardest part for me to conquer. I've done the math over and over and there's no doubt I can pull the plug and be comfortable with the new chapters in my life. And yes I understand what you shared about retiring to something rather than from something; nice perspective.
A wealthy person once said how if you thought it was hard to make money and acquire wealth that it's harder to give away responsibly. I think the same is true for exiting business and real estate. It's a lot of work.
Interesting thread. Instead of retiring, because I love my business, I made the changes needed to allow me to be a modified snowbird. Three weeks a month all winter long, I work from the gulf coast of FL. Fly back for a week to the frozen wasteland, then back to Paradise for three more weeks. After five years like that, I'm beginning to understand that if there were three of me, we'd all be busy. I could retire and be happy, but I think working on this basis is best of both worlds.
Interesting thread. Instead of retiring, because I love my business, I made the changes needed to allow me to be a modified snowbird. Three weeks a month all winter long, I work from the gulf coast of FL. Fly back for a week to the frozen wasteland, then back to Paradise for three more weeks. After five years like that, I'm beginning to understand that if there were three of me, we'd all be busy. I could retire and be happy, but I think working on this basis is best of both worlds.
Thanks for sharing. I've explored this option too and believe it would work but only if I scale the business volume down. Just got to think outside the box like you have.
Currently own 103 year old family retail business in Midwest. Age is 68. Can't sell as it's in small town (2874 happy souls and 16 grumpy ones).
Have a retirement house in Southern state, where wife lives. I commute back an forth. Usually driving the 750 miles, except during the Winter. Spend apx 1/3 of each month in the South and rest running business in the Midwest.
My plan is to continue for another four years, then "retire." Don't know what I'll do though, as I work 80-90 hours per week (yesterday was a 17 hour day!) and have no hobbies. Hopefully, all of us will get some insights from others about this not so uncommon problem with people who own businesses.
I believe that being active in the business helps not only the brain but my physical body (running up & down stairs) helps keep the weight off. Father was 90 years old when he "retired". I know being active contributed to his long life.
Currently own 103 year old family retail business in Midwest. Age is 68. Can't sell as it's in small town (2874 happy souls and 16 grumpy ones).
Have a retirement house in Southern state, where wife lives. I commute back an forth. Usually driving the 750 miles, except during the Winter. Spend apx 1/3 of each month in the South and rest running business in the Midwest.
My plan is to continue for another four years, then "retire." Don't know what I'll do though, as I work 80-90 hours per week (yesterday was a 17 hour day!) and have no hobbies. Hopefully, all of us will get some insights from others about this not so uncommon problem with people who own businesses.
I believe that being active in the business helps not only the brain but my physical body (running up & down stairs) helps keep the weight off. Father was 90 years old when he "retired". I know being active contributed to his long life.
Maybe hand off the business to a younger family member, and retire to a volunteer position helping others starting a business.
Thanks for sharing. I've explored this option too and believe it would work but only if I scale the business volume down. Just got to think outside the box like you have.
So the interesting thing is that tightened the focus of my business, eliminating some lines, concentrating on those whose duties would 'travel well.' I thought there would be conflict between my business goals and personal goals--downsizing. But it never happened. There was some churn, but revenues went up.
I have no advice or knowledge about selling and/or closing a business. I do have some advice if work defines your life.
Some people are concerned about retiring because their lives have revolved around work. They are rightly concerned that without that activity they will become bored. They talk about the need for activities and hobbies, but since they have none, they are not sure what to do. This phenomenon is similar to what used to happen to "housewives" and I suppose there are still some in this category. Once they have finished raising their families, their lives become empty. They yearn for grandkids as a substitute but often that does not work out well.
I do not think finding activities and hobbies is sufficient. If your life has been narrowly defined, well before retirement, it is time to ask yourself some serious questions. What do you want to do and accomplish with the rest of your life? Do you have a thirst for learning and knowledge? Do you want to expand your involvement with others? Do you want to travel, if only in the world of literature? Do you want to teach, and if so, what is it that you have learned that might be of help or interest to others? Is there a creative or artistic side to your personality that you never had time for? What did you miss in life because you were narrowly focused on work or raising a family?
When you start to redefine your life and your goals, I suggest you do not look for a substitute for your past behavior, but look to expand yourself in many directions. If so, you will find there is not enough time and energy to do all you want to accomplish. You will find yourself wishing you had gotten off of the train track earlier. If not, well, as many find, there is nothing left and you will be trying to kill time and amuse yourself until time takes over.
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