When you successfully sell a business, you have the luxury of thinking about retirement.  In some cases, however, you may just need a break or sabbatical, not complete and final rejection of what you have done in the past.  Let’s look at how to build a successful retirement lifestyle, and then look at a different approach: a gap you.

If you’re focused on a traditional notion of complete retirement without day-to-day obligations, you’re wise to plan that out.  Going from a Type A personality to a Type Z may seem attractive at first, but ultimately entrepreneurs – the ultimate go-getters – won’t be satisfied with doing nothing.  Before you leave the business, mapping the activities, courses, books, and people you want to engage can help you focus on your personal prize during the difficult process of selling a company. “Know thyself” becomes an operating principle here. As a business owner, you likely have been charging hard at goals all your life. Will you feel fulfilled without one ahead of you?  And you have greater control over selecting your goals once a business is sold.  How will you seize this chance for change?

For some, the concept of an endless vacation as a leisure-pursuing aristocrat looses luster after a while. To go from a hundred miles per hour to zero can seem attractive, but, over time, it may become unpalatable to a former boss who’s accustomed to making things happen. Even in complete retirement, consider our advice of dividing life into thirds: catch up on things you have put off, improve your health, and find something challenging to devote energies to that makes you happy.

There’s another, equally serious reason to envision your post-sale life earnestly before selling a company. Absent a vision of life after the sale, your uncertainty could be so disconcerting that it creates resistance to selling the business at all. Potential buyers who sense a seller’s reluctance often back out of the sale, fearing it won’t go smoothly or will stop mid-stride. Without investing time in parsing out what’s important to you and designing an exciting future, you may resist engaging in the selling process or focus only on the money when more fulfilling options or potential buyers may be a better fit for your long-term happiness.

A “Gap Year”

Perhaps a “gap year” should be part of your plan. This is the European and increasingly American college student concept of taking time off for personal discovery during college or before starting a career. Running and selling a business are exhausting, and a pause to rest, have fun, and explore could be a wise use of your time. A restorative and contemplative sabbatical might reward you with the chance to study your next moves before enacting them.

Our advice to you is that it’s best to put structure around your discovery process. We have recommended putting a flexible time limit—a year, for example—on the endeavor. Again, on a more day-to-day level, consider dedicating one-third of the time on activities you’ve put off, one-third on maintaining or building your health, and one-third on actively searching for your personal “next big thing.” Perhaps that means taking classes or meeting people, maybe engaging a personal coach, or taking up other activities that help you to assess yourself and find new ways to contribute and challenge yourself.  It puts a strategic focus on what to become involved with, instead of letting whatever crosses your path captivate or capsize you.  Our clients have told us that this approach of thirds gives them a balanced break yet also pushes them to define the next phase of life.

I invite you to use these ideas to create your best-life business exit strategy.

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