What is a Graceful Exit?

Every business owner needs to exit their business gracefully. Traditionally, that would equate to selling the business, transferring it to a child or employee, or an ESOP. All of these methods abruptly end the owner’s involvement in the business and their income stream.

Many business owners do not want to retire completely. When we talk to business owners, we hear statements like,

I don’t know what I would do with myself if I retired
I still like to keep busy
I can’t sell my business for enough to retire
My spouse would kill me if I were around the house all day
There’s only so much golf I can play

What if there was another way to gracefully exit a business? There is, it’s called Half-Retirement™. Half-Retired™ business owners work a light schedule but keep their business income. Financially, this is a vastly superior deal vs. selling the business (read our article The 44% Rule). Imagine working a couple of half-days each week but keeping your current income. Why would anyone ever sell a business like that?

Just like any other retirement option, Half-Retirement™ is a process. To Half-Retire®, you will need to:

Create Magnetism. You must have a powerful reason to Half-Retire® to create the motivation necessary.
Remap your mindsets. Many business owners are a “certain type.” These personality traits and mindsets have served you well to build the business, but they will work against you in Half-Retirement™. You must remap unhelpful mindsets to Half-Retire Mindsets™ to
Fix the Jenga Issue. Watch the Jenga Video below to see if you can pass the Jenga Test. Most cannot. Don’t worry; it’s a fixable issue.
Re-leverage your assets. You will be removing a valuable asset from the business when you Half-Retire®, you. To stabilize your income, a replacement for this lost asset is needed. By finding hidden assets, you can fund your Half-Retirement™.
Set the Autopilot. You will need to create processes to “manage in your stead” while you are Half-Retired™.
Enjoy the spoils of Half-Retirement™. Half-Retired™ business owners who “do it right” enjoy life to the fullest. They travel, enjoy hobbies, spent time with friends/family. They do this while enjoying the financial, mental, and psychological benefits of business ownership.