Become your firm's venture capitalist. Map your succession. Decide your date, dollar, and method. Then, execute that plan! Every business owner needs a destination port toward which they're sailing. That port must be beyond just operating profitably. The "successful" owner must groom staff, mentor a new leader, and transfer ownership with a healthy retirement account for their years of effort. Good teachers have students who become greater still. Socrates had Plato, who's student was Aristotle, who taught Alexander the Great. How great can you engender your successor to become? Business owners of any age must be prepared for surprises. Always have a job progression plan for staff and career progression for yourself. Venture capitalists plan their exit as they plan their entrance into a new firm. Starting tomorrow, set in motion your way out of today's business into your next opportunity. Teach your staff to "Steer Your Business To Success." Empower the team and a new leader will emerge. To attract today's customers and tomorrow's staff, you must support a "learning environment" to distinguish your firm, your products and your brand. Demonstrate and teach leadership. Train the team to build, not just operate your business systems. Ignore this and your firm will risk suffering and sinking when an inevitable competitor, accident or illness strikes you or other key employees. Coach individuals to grow professionally as they serve customers. Make the most competent leader or leaders your partner. Mentor and groom them to buy out your interest, so you can move on with capital for your next adventure.
About the Author: John E. Anderson has founded five companies, two of which he sold. He was born in Syracuse, NY. He graduated from Jersey Preparatory School in 1964 and from Monmouth College in 1967 with an AA majoring in English. In 1969 John earned a BA in philosophy at Bloomfield College, Bloomfield NJ. John was a staff writer at daily Passaic-Clifton Herald News while attending Bloomfield College. Upon graduation, John became a writer and editor at Fairchild Publishing, NY, at "Home Furnishings Daily" 1969-71. Between 1969-72, John completed a curriculum of philosophy/anthropology courses at the Graduate Faculty of Social and Political Science, New School For Social Research, studying with Hannah Arendt, Hans Jonas, Aaron Gurvitch and Stanley Diamond. John and a friend, Steven Finkelstein, founded Unison Natural Foods, Middletown, NY during 1971. In 1976, John founded America Publishing Co. in Florida specializing in tourism development. During the following 10 years, he produced 100+ color brochures, began a magazine "SpaceCoastNews" and a wholesale tour operation, Sunny Tours. Sunny Tours was a tour operator working with Amtrak and ultra yachts on the Intercoastal Waterway stopping at the Kennedy Space Center. John marketed the first cruise ship from Pt Canaveral and he was awarded contracts to operate a Greyhound Bus Station and Western Union Agency. John sold two businesses during this time, the Space Coast News and the Western Union Agency. Between 1986 and 1989, John studied accounting and finance, passed the H&R Block Tax Course, and health/life insurance license examinations. He worked with an insurance agency in Florida and wrote business plans for clients' marketing, finance and retirement. Between 1989 and 2001, John moved to Oregon, operated an art gallery and published greeting card lines for 12+ artists which he marketed with the gift lines of many artisans to 1,000 independent retail stores coast-to-coast. From 2001 to 2005, John worked for an international management consulting firm appraising hundreds of businesses and earning a Master of Science degree in management from Antioch University, Seattle. John founded Be Cause Business Resources in 2003. John has been a professional member of the Institute of Management Consultants IMC since 2007. In 2016, he was elected chapter president. John developed a broad range of services for Be Cause Business clients with a focus on organization optimization and staff succession with leadership transition and exit.