I've built businesses, sold businesses, transferred businesses. Sometimes with great pride, sometimes with more questions than answers. When you have been an entrepreneur for a long time, you learn that there is a difference between the business you run and the business you transfer. And that difference is rarely in the numbers.
In the years that I have been assisting entrepreneurs with transfers and sales, one thing has become clear to me: the real value of a business does not lie in the latest financial statements. It lies in the continuity. In the people. In how you say goodbye.
No euros without emotion
The moment of transfer is emotionally complex for many business owners. You are letting go of something you have often put your heart and soul into for years. At the same time, you want to get the most out of it in business terms. These two interests sometimes seem to be at odds.
But they don't have to be mutually exclusive. On the contrary.The transfers that I look back on best - both personally and professionally - were those where we went for value pricing. Where not only were the returns good, but the path to them was right.
What will be left when you get out?
It's a confrontational question. And yet that's where it starts. Do you have a solid management team that can build on? Are there long-term client relationships with a clear strategy in place? Does your business depend on you - or stand on its own two feet?
You can show a wonderful profit figure, but if a buyer sees that everything with you falls away as soon as you walk away, no one feels comfortable. And frankly: neither do you yourself.
Why I've come to see transfer differently
When I was in the middle of a transfer process myself, I noticed how easy it is to get lost in the deal, in the negotiations, in the numbers. But the real conversation - about what comes after you - is just as important.
By now I know: a good transfer is not a sprint, but a route. And the sooner you explore that route, the more peace, direction and return you get out of it. For yourself. And for everyone connected to your business.
Heading for values is not a soft choice
It is the hard condition for a good transfer. It requires choices that not only feel right, but are right. It requires timely reflection: what do I want to leave behind? Where does my real value lie?
As an entrepreneur you know: steering by numbers is necessary.But steering by values makes all the difference.
