What’s Next: Life After Selling Your Business

DAN SULLIVAN

Thinking about life after entrepreneurship can be scary, and you may even battle some feelings of unworthiness as you ask yourself, “Was it just luck?” This can lead some entrepreneurs down the endless road of wanting to prove themselves.

Life after selling your business can still be filled with purpose because you have value and knowledge to impart to others who want to walk your path but don’t yet have the capability. And, of course, you can continue to develop new capabilities of your own.

The worst kind of money is the kind where you have more money than you have a purpose for it. That’s when people tend to squander it.

Changing your perspective of the sale.

When you think about the sale of your business in the present moment, there’s too much emotion attached. Instead, ask yourself, “As a result of the sale now, what will my life look like three years from now?”

Think about life after selling your business:

• The duties
• The freedom of time
• The gains
• The relationships

The sale isn’t the end but rather a bridge to the next stage of your life.

Sometimes, massively successful entrepreneurs struggle to find the things that give them the adrenaline rush that courageous, high-stakes business decisions provide. When you stop experiencing that, life can feel like it has lost its color.

For example, I knew a husband-and-wife team who owned 350 ‘dollar stores’. An equity company came along and offered them a lot of money, so they sold, and an exciting 35-year entrepreneurial career came to a screeching halt. After the sale, they spent their days with boring wealthy people, bought mansions and toys, and squandered money to fill the hole the business had left.

They didn’t build that next stage of life to continue enjoying the feeling of purpose and excitement. Instead, they sat around and wasted their money, never seeing how beautiful and fulfilling life after selling the business could have been.

Creating a compelling future.

By selling your business, you’re entering a new stage of life where you can gain new capabilities, new connections, new purpose, and new relationships. As a result, you can impact people in a new way without damaging your lifestyle.

Dream bigger and know that you can continue to create, grow, and lead the exciting life of an entrepreneur. But now, you’ll have an experienced perspective, and your decisions will reflect that maturity. Collaborate and embark on the journey with others—whether they’re mentors or mentees—and continue to create. It’s in your blood as an entrepreneur to do so.

See, that’s the ultimate dopamine trigger in entrepreneurism: creating new capabilities that never existed before, in yourself and others.

There’s magic in doing something brand new with your life after selling your business. It provides freedom of thought outside the confines of an established business model. You don’t have any tethers or landmines when it’s brand new.

Nothing is exciting about the past and what already exists. Instead, create a future that frees you up from what’s tying you down in the present and preventing you from seeing further down the line. Regardless of where you are in business, it’s essential to look at the present from the future to get a bird’s-eye view and a better understanding of what your future life could look like based on your decisions now. From there, you’ll recognise the opportunities for an exciting and fulfilling life beyond the sale.

In short, you’ve got no incentive to give up on the past until you have a vision for a bigger future. So, if you’ve sold your business or are thinking of selling your business, congratulations! Now, you get to create a new stage of life filled with freedom, purpose, and continued growth. To get more guidance along any point of your entrepreneurial journey, visit the Strategic Coach Resource Hub.