Does the perfect moment actually exist?
As a former business owner, I was constantly hounded about selling my business - via emails, calls, texts, people showing up to my office. When I was approached to sell my business late last year, it was certainly not the perfect moment. I had spent nearly 2 years isolated at home, helping my wife take care of our young daughter, and Preemo had been on a tear during the pandemic, growing faster than ever before. We were planning to move into our new office building, our pipeline was full of viable opportunities, and we were firing on all cylinders.
As I look back at my first conversations with Rob Stephenson, I recognize that the perfect moment evolved over time. Over several conversations, we built trust and respect for one another, understanding each other’s journey, and how to work together towards the next (big) step. As we got deeper into the deal, we worked through issues quickly, and charged towards a common goal: to build the largest, most capable MSP in our market.
Exiting your business is both a moment of success, and a moment of loss. The success part comes like an avalanche, with messages of congratulations and a feeling of personal accomplishment, but disappears just as fast as it arrived. The loss comes in waves, when you least expect it (like drinking tea out of a branded mug), and seems to persist for some time.
When people ask me how I feel about selling my business, my answer has always been the same: “I’m confident I made the right decision.” When I assembled all the factors leading to that decision, the many SWOT analysis, the long conversations with family and mentors, the incessant back and forth in my head - the decision to exit was hard, but right.
I don’t think the perfect moment exists, but I do think you can create the perfect moment.
If you’re going through this journey, or looking to create a perfect moment, know you can count on me for help, as I counted on many during my own.