In the world of very small businesses, talk about selling your business is almost non-existent. Changing jobs is accepted and understood but the idea that you’d sell your business to go do something else is not an intuitive for most in the very small business world. Why is this? Personally I think it is because of this prevailing myth that we have in our society about small businesses – that someone starts a business because they love it and they are going to work their tail off to be successful, often using all of their mental and financial resources to do so. But that myth is total B.S. – most small business owners end up in a small business because of opportunity. They see a need for a certain product or service, the opportunity presented itself, or, the corporate world isn’t working because of family / lifestyle (just to name a few). They often sell their businesses for the same reasons – maybe it was just time to do something else, life changed or they want to make a career change. So, #PSA next time you chat with a small business owner, chat they up about they got into whatever they are doing and what they might do next. (P.S. We’ll talk soon about what to say when someone tells you they sold their small business).
