Planning for Life After Selling Your Sign Company

AS I FEEL I’VE BEAT you with the financial and document preparation stick enough this past year, let’s look into some other ways you can mentally prepare yourself to sell your signshop and move seamlessly into the next phase of your life, whether that be full or partial retirement, a new job, volunteering, gardening, babysitting or, god-forbid, golfing.

What Do I Want? Who Am I?

First, spend some time thinking about what you want next for yourself. If you don’t “have” to work for financial reasons, think about what brings you joy, interests you, keeps your attention, allows you to improve the quality of your life. Giving yourself the gift of thinking about this in a meaningful way will ease your transition into this next chapter. Talking this over with your life partner will give you another important perspective.

Next, consider how you view yourself — your identity. When you meet people for the first time, you likely say “I own a signshop,” or “I am a printer,” or “I am a small business owner.” Guess what? Saying “I’m retired,” or “I used to be…” isn’t nearly as interesting or important-sounding. Are you OK with that? Because so much of our personal identity is tied up with our occupation, what will that look like when you are no longer doing it? I don’t think there is a right answer for everyone — however, it is something to be aware of as you move down this path.

Emotional and Mental Preparation

Preparing yourself emotionally will help set you up for success. Be gentle with yourself; do not judge yourself too harshly if you don’t feel like working so hard any longer. Although it might not feel like it, in reality, you are more than what you do for a living. Admittedly, I’m a latecomer to that way of thinking, and I’ve come to embrace it more and more. Maybe it’s time for your happiness and health to take precedence in your life. And always keeping your motivation for selling in mind should keep you on the straight and narrow.

Mentally, as you prepare to sell your shop, it’s a good idea to think in terms of “goodbye.” As in, “this may be the last time I make a past due collection call,” or “maybe I won’t have to listen to Shelly complain about Marcus again,” or “I might never have to field a phone call from an angry or disappointed customer anymore.” These are the happy goodbyes! Considering the sad goodbyes is important too, although I won’t mention them here in case I get teary-eyed.

Relationships and Other Changes

As business owners and community leaders, we develop many relationships that might not be as relevant once we sell. Think about those people whom you’d like to stay in touch with and make sure you reach out to them after. Treat them to breakfast or lunch periodically, remind them how much their relationship meant to you when you were a business owner and see if it makes sense to continue to keep in touch with them.
None of us likes to make big changes, do we? We are comfortable and secure in our routines and status quo. This is a huge change, people! Even though it is positive, it is still scary and intimidating. What if you have regrets? What if you change your mind? What if you’re bored? Or depressed? Or lonely? There’s no right or wrong answer here. Simply be prepared to face these possibilities and have a game plan in mind if they occur.

Benefits of Closure

For some people, closure seems like a hot topic. If having closure is your thing, find some way to mark the sale. Maybe a small celebration with your close friends and family to honor the milestone? How about writing a letter to yourself to remind you of all the good you’ve done and tried to do these many years? Even just a quiet moment to reflect on your long career might benefit you. If having a sense of closure is important to you, don’t neglect to find a way to do it that feels right.

The best part of selling my shop for me has been creating space for myself. As a business owner, you constantly take a back seat to your employees, clients, vendors, bankers, advisors, pretty much every single soul you meet every single day of your working life who’s not you. What does your day look like when you are at the center of it? What activities have you shunted aside to make room for your never-ending work responsibilities? This is your chance to rediscover your true passions, interests and joys. When you really think about it, this is a chance to start an entire new phase of your life, one in which you finally can be the dog and not the fire hydrant!