Boomers In Business for a Bit Longer
March 16, 2009
A lot of Boomers who had planned to retire and/or sell their businesses won’t be doing so anytime soon. The poor economy is pushing down the amounts buyers are willing to pay for businesses. Many businesses that might have garnered 5-7 times EBITDA in recent years are now attracting offers of 2-4 times.
Boomers entrepreneurs and small business owners, who have been counting on the sale of the business to augment or provide the bulk of retirement income have little choice but to stay on.
Even Boomers with retirement portfolios have been hit hard, and some entrepreneurs who invested with fraudulent money managers are back at ground zero.
What this means, then, is that succession challenges will be compounded:
- business as usual must be maintained, future plans suspended, even if you are tired and ready to move on;
- successors, if you have them in place, will have to be patient for a longer period (and accommodations may have to be made); and,
- new business challenges that arise must be met as before.
One step you can take, is to begin your succession planning process now, or to reexamine what you already have in place. Of course, you will need to adapt it as the markets and circumstances change. Beginning to think (not as a worry, but as a conscious consideration) about an exit strategy, might just help you see and take advantage of the opportuntunities presented, when the time is right.
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