The “am I aging too dramatically” question that has the country transfixed also plays out in many companies. What happens when a successful entrepreneur, who has built a thriving business from the ground up, gets feedback from others they have grown “too old” to continue as they have? What if these entrepreneurs have spent the last three, four or five decades charging forward their feet on the accelerator? Do they brake, aim for the nearest exit, pull over to slow lane or just pause on the shoulder and deliberate? What happens to the entrepreneur, the company and to the people who work there?
In recent weeks, I’ve had calls from business owners asking themselves those questions. Most often it’s an owner who doesn’t have anyone in their employ who can buy or otherwise take over the company. Said one caller, “None of my employees have enough money to buy the business. Several of them might be able to swing it if they went into it together, but then that opens up a new set of problems.”
Said another, “I’d got two or three employees who want the business, but each of them expects me to bankroll them. That would leave me holding the bag if they flopped. And if I chose one of them, the others would leave.”
Said a third, “I’m getting older. I’m just not as sharp as I once was, and a couple of my employees seem to be taking advantage of that. Also, I learned two days ago that my top employee is floating her resume. I pulled her into my office and asked her why. She said she needed to safeguard her and her family’s future and didn’t know how long I’d keep the company going, or if I’d just shut it down with no notice.”
“My current employees are talented,” said a fourth. “But all of them have a glorified idea of what owning a business is. I’ve weathered the hard times, and don’t know that any of them have that in them. And, I have to admit, I’d rather shut my business down than sell it on the cheap.”
The stakes for these entrepreneurs and those who work for them and count on regular paychecks are high. I suggested to several owners that they check with a business broker, only to receive call backs reporting the brokers had given them a painful truth—that without them at the helm, their businesses weren’t sellable. “I’d have to indenture myself to the purchasing company for three to five years If I sold,” one owner said. “Why would I do that when I’m not sure I want to work that long?”
A recent Wall Street Journal article, The Age Question Looms Over America’s Bosses – WSJ reports more than half of the private businesses in our country are owned by individuals older than 55, The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there will be twice as many employees 75 and older in 2030 as there were in 2020, many of them highly-situated professionals who’ve chosen to work past traditional retirement ages, https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2021/article/projections-overview-and-highlights-2020-30.htm#:~:text=Between%202020%20and%202030%2C%20the,of%20165.4%20million%20in%202030.
So, what’s the answer when you’re a business owner aware you’re no longer who you once were, yet you’re the one clients and employees trust, and without you your business isn’t worth much? Do you call “time” on yourself or keep going?
The painful truth—entrepreneurs need to decide on the answer to this before they have nothing left in their gas tank, or worse, show signs of cognitive decline. For many business owners, that’s three to ten years ago, which means they’re currently caught with few options.
© 2024 Lynne Curry, PhD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
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My father started an auto repair business at 15 and other than 4 years in North Africa and Europe during WWII, he worked until he died at 76. At the time, he had owned a new car dealership for 35 years and had been a partner in one for over 10 years prior to purchasing that dealership. Ever since I was a kid, he often said if he would have known about all the paperwork and baloney associated with owning a business, he never would have started one. At the time, there were 8 new car dealerships in the town. All were profitable and employed many men and women full time and high school kids after school and on Saturdays. Now there are no dealerships and only one auto repair shop. Surprisingly, the population is about 50% more now than it was during its dealership heyday. Small business used to be the backbone of the United States. No more, unfortunately.
This situation surely is a comment on our times. While the business and employment/workforce press blithely assures us that “the best answer may be going into business for yourself” or that “you could do well owning your own business,” this isn’t a forever answer, though it may be a medium-term one. I know several people who own or have owned their own businesses, only to see the business go bust once they retired/sold it to someone. Younger people who have never owned a business, though they may have worked a long time in the business the long-time owner runs, do not know what it is to be the responsible “the buck stops here” person, and they may not have the passion for it or be willing to put in the long hours that may be required. Establishing relationships with customers and lenders, dealing with the omnipresent risk that the business may go under, dealing with changing markets and business climates, all are real “everyday” concerns of the business owner, and they do not go away and in fact may increase when the business is sold to a new owner. It was interesting to read that business brokers may tell the long-time owner that the business isn’t worth much without them and that they’d have to indenture themselves for 3-5 years after selling before it would really be over (and, of course in that time, the business might fail under new ownership, too).
Thanks, all great points!
My Father’s son-in-law and several people wanted to buy His business. His reply, “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody”. He closed it down and sold the building as a repair shop even though He sold more new and used cars than the other dealers combined. It proved to be the writing on the wall as others followed suit due to the major car companies getting rid of small dealerships. It is currently the only repair shop.