Know Thyself
Insights by Peter Watson.
At a recent wealth seminar (hosted by Investment Quorum) I was given a book called “The Financial Wellbeing Book” written by Chris Budd. It’s a short but worthwhile read and starts with an apparently simple premise – to “Know Thyself”. How can you plan your financial future without at least a broad understanding of where you want to go?
Knowing thyself sounds easy, but being truly honest about the life that you want to lead takes some work. We have seen too many business owners struggle on, with an endless desire to seek a “better exit” even though the enjoyment seems to have left some time ago, and the business appears to be, at best, stationary if not actually going backwards!
How much is enough (to retire)? This is probably an easier question for your financial advisor to answer than for you. They can be more objective about the likely needs, based on many similar conversations with clients at every stage of life. It is a discussion worth having relatively early on, whatever your relationship with your business currently is.
Continuing to run your own business is certainly one option and may indeed be the right one, but don’t rule out other options. There is life after a business sale and avenues can open for you to develop other areas – whether social, physical or even in the wider community – which may ultimately deliver more for you on a personal level.
What is clear is that just continuing to do what you know (but have fallen out of love for) is unlikely to achieve your life aims, whether understood or not.
If you’d welcome an initial discussion about your business and your future, please do book a 1-to-1 Chat with a Prism Director. We can be an impartial sounding board and help you figure out your next steps.
If you’ve already decided that you might want to sell in the not-too-distant future, then I can highly recommend our next live webinar on 22 October. You will learn steps you can take to prepare for a smoother sale process and how to hopefully avoid an M&A disaster. Also, it’s free!