The Business Will™ – Every Owner Needs One
Every business owner has a Love-Hate-Love relationship with their business (give or take a Love/Hate). The ups and downs make it exciting, rewarding, stressful, thought-provoking… all the feels.
Whether we want it to be or not, the business is a part of who we are, like a member of the family. We rejoice in its success and suffer along with it during tough times. We worry about it and, for better or worse, business owners are especially good at playing the “What If” game.
The Thinking
“What if my business growth takes off and I can’t keep up?”
“What if this new product launch is a bust and the investment is wasted?”
“What if my 2nd-In-Command decides to leave and everything becomes infinitely difficult?”
“What if I stepped back or even walked away from my business? Could I sell it for enough $?”
Sometimes our “What If”-ing is based on present conditions and other times it’s when we think about the future. In the list above, let’s focus for a minute on that last one.
The decision to leave your business is rarely spur of the moment. It’s driven by outside factors like a change in priorities or a desire to pursue something new. The thinking time that comes with contemplating an exit can take months or years, and too often stops at just “thinking.” That is a wasted opportunity that has owners kicking themselves later.
The Challenge
How often do we, as business owners, future-plan, at least in our own heads? Constantly. And how often do we write down all the details? Never.
Where would that writing even begin? Why write down ideas that might not be fully formed? It seems like a nice to have and the benefits aren’t immediately obvious.
What if I asked you: Do you want more control over the future of your business and your life?
(You can’t see it, but I’m raising my hand: Yes)
The Answer
Every business owner wants more control. That’s where a Business Will™ comes in. It protects current value by capturing the important information about your business, about you as the owner, about what the future of the business can be, and about what your future can be.
The Business Will™ is equal parts Business Continuity and What’s-Good-For-You Planning. It’s about giving you choices and having more control over your own destiny. What it isn’t about is being passive. It’s the opposite of letting life happen to you and your business. It will make you feel better right away, and gives you ammunition to use against those “What If” scenarios.
If the fate of your business plays a role in your future goals and desires, keep reading.
The Next Step
Our Business Will™ service involves a process and an artifact. It’s a guided journey through your history and relationship with your business, how you spend your time today and how you want to spend your time going forward. It identifies and describes the strengths and assets of the business, the weaknesses and threats it faces, and what “healthy” looks like for the business itself. It provides the space for you as the owner to step back and look objectively at what it takes to Keep The Lights On and what would be required in case of emergency (i.e., break the glass).
This is that “writing it down” opportunity and it doesn’t fall all on your shoulders. We do it together.
Take the conversation you’re having inside your head and move it to one with our value creation experts. We will help you achieve the following:
- Connect your goals with the opportunities in your business
- Define backstops to protect against knowns and unknowns
- Get clarity on how your business runs, where its strengths and areas for improvement are
- Assess your own perspective on the business
- Business continuity documentation just in case you need it
- A solid start on the path toward making your company as valuable as it can be
Contact us to learn more about the Business Will™ service and get to Future Planning the right way. Email us at info@bizopsolved.com or book directly at https://calendly.com/bizops-solved/business-will.
BizOps Solved works with business owners to make their companies more valuable and their lives better.
