What Do My Clients Secretly and Privately Desire Most?
After being involved in the selling of businesses for over 25 years and meeting, talking, and spending time with over 1,000 people, you start to learn what makes people tick and why people do some of the things they do. This, combined with a deep study of psychology and human nature, I am still surprised and sometimes shocked by people’s thoughts and actions. Of course, it is easy to apply human nature when talking with business owners regarding employees and some of the things employees do, such as not showing up for work, not doing their job properly, or offering some dumb excuse instead of telling the truth, and not being accountable for their actions. These are easy to understand, and we always like to say when dealing with the operations of a business and employees that “the situations never change, just the names”. Last week, it was Jim and Jill, and this week, it’s Sam and Sara. What I am mostly referring to is the psychology of the mindset of the business owners I work with. For example, when I first meet a business owner with whom I think I may be working in helping them prepare their business to be sold, I always like to know how they got to where they are in the life of their business. Did they start the business from scratch, was it a family business, and they grew up in it, or did they buy the business and build it up to what it is today? I will ask lots of questions to understand the person or people I will be working with going forward. Generally, the last question I will ask is, what are you planning on doing after you exit the business? Sometimes, I get a direct answer such as, “We are going to semi-retire and take it easy and travel and spend more time with our grandchildren and family.” These are all excellent plans which I commend them for making.
had to dig deeper into my clients’ minds and find the real reason for what they secretly and privately desire the most in their lives regarding the sale of their business. What I discovered is that business owners are really searching for peace of mind. They want the peace of mind that they are doing the right thing for themselves and their families. They want to be happy, and they want their families to be happy. They have lived their lives working on and in the business for many years to support themselves and their families, and they are concerned about whether they are doing the right thing. Sometimes, it is easy because they know they don’t have any family members who want to continue in the business because their children told them they didn’t want to be involved going forward. But most of the time, it isn’t that easy. Some of the kids don’t want anything to do with the business, and some of the kids are somewhat involved with the business, but they don’t have the ability to run the business going forward. These are tough decisions that keep them up at night trying to decide what to do.
There was much more competition in the fuel wholesale business, with more jobbers fighting for fewer available gallons, and it seemed like every year, a new competitor came into the convenience store business, too. By the time Joe and Lucy called me, they had already determined even though they still had a very good and profitable business, there was very little upside left to be had, and they also knew their two sons were not interested nor capable of taking over the operations of the business. Yes, they were interested in cashing out, knowing there was a consolidation of fuel wholesalers and convenience store owners happening in the industry, but more importantly, what they really wanted was peace of mind — the peace of mind that they would have enough money to continue to live the lifestyle they had become accustomed to and enough money to fund the new businesses their two sons wanted to become involved in going forward. Yes, the end result is a financial pot of gold at the end of the business selling process, but it also comes with peace of mind, which is ultimately what we are all looking for: the peace of mind of having run a successful business, having the money to maintain a comfortable lifestyle, and being able to help family members if needed to pursue a different vocation. To learn more about what it takes for you to obtain peace of mind and what your business may be worth in today’s marketplace, email me at Terry@TerryMonroe.com , like Joe and Lucy, who are now enjoying their peace of mind. Closing the sale of the business is the celebration of many years of hard work and knowing the next chapter of life comes with the peace of mind we all crave.
Joe and Lucy had purchased the fuel wholesale business and a couple of
convenience stores from Joe’s father who started the business 20 years ago. Joe had been brought up in the business and had worked for his father before buying the business, so the transition from employee to owner was not difficult. Together, Joe and Lucy continued to operate the business and grew it from two convenience stores to seven convenience stores and doubled the fuel wholesale business. They eventually brought their two sons into the business, and together, all four of them worked in it, each of them having different roles within the business. But then Joe discovered the business was not as enjoyable as it had been in the beginning when he and Lucy were growing the business.
–Terry Monroe
But this kind of answer to my question isn’t always the real answer. Therefore, I have
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