Own a business that gives you options, not one that owns you.
Sell it. Hand it to your kids. Hire your way out. Disappear for a month. Refinance. Or run it for another twenty years because you want to, not because you have to. Those are options, and most owners have fewer of them than they think.
An Option Strategy is simply making sure the choice is yours, on your timeline. Yes, the business tends to be worth considerably more by the time you get there. That is the bonus, not the point. The point is that you decide.
So how many options do you have right now? Eleven questions (because 11 is 1 more than 10) will tell you.
Nobody schedules the 5 D's.
They arrive on their own calendar, and they do not care how good last quarter was.
This is the whole case for an Option Strategy. When one of the D's shows up, you do not get to go build your options then. You either already have them or you take whatever is offered. And the owners who build those options early almost always find the business got easier to run and worth a good deal more along the way. Nice, but ancillary. Being ready is the objective.
Two ways to count your options.
One is free and takes two minutes. The other goes all the way down to the specifics.
Most owners should start with the first one, and yes, that is me telling you to take the free thing.
What others are saying.
"Gregg defines a problem and diagnoses a solution faster than anyone I have worked with, and the relationship grew from consulting into coaching."
- Dana Cornell, CFP, CIMA
FOUNDER, CORNELL CAPITAL HOLDINGS
"Gregg found issues inside the business that saved money and generated new revenue, day to day and long term alike."
- Robert Johnson
OWNER, JOHNSON'S LANDING
"Through every up and down of selling a closely held business, Gregg's positivity kept the process moving to a sale that worked for everyone."
- Ralph Fox
OWNER, ACME BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, INC.
You don't have to figure this out alone.
Running a business is hard. Running one that does not run you is harder. Plenty of owners work relentlessly, turn a profit, and stay busy, and still could not step away for a month, could not sell if they wanted to, and are not certain they would want to if they could.
Options are not built by winging it. They come from clarity, intention, and focusing on the decisions that matter most, not just the ones screaming the loudest. A business worth more is what that work leaves behind. It is a very good consolation prize, and it is still the consolation prize.
I have been there and done that. I have started, run, and successfully exited businesses of my own, and helped plenty of other owners get to the point where they had a real choice to make. I care more about your success than my own, which is an odd thing to put in writing and still completely true.
Gregg Prockton, CPA, CMA, CEPA®
Have a question? Schedule a time to speak with Gregg here.
What I've learned, I've written down.
The Option Strategy
by Gregg Prockton, CPA, CMA, CEPA®
You spent decades building this thing. You skipped the vacations, missed the dinners, and poured a frankly unreasonable amount of your one and only life into it. For most Main Street owners, the honest answer is “I have no idea,” and that answer is expensive. Roughly half of all business exits are never chosen. One of disagreement. The owner who built options gets to decide. The owner who didn’t gets a fire sale.
Purchase a copy here.
Peace & Profit
by Gregg Prockton, CPA, CMA, CEPA®
You started your business with big dreams - financial freedom, fulfillment, maybe even a little more time for yourself. But instead, you find yourself overwhelmed, stuck, and wondering if all this stress is worth it. What if you could grow your business and create a life you love? In this game-changing book, CPA, CMA, CEPA ®, and business coach Gregg Prockton delivers a refreshingly real approach to success - one that doesn’t require burnout as the price of admission. Blending hard-won business wisdom with practical life coaching strategies, he helps you break through the roadblocks holding you back and build a business that serves you, not the other way around.
Grab your copy here.
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