As you are setting up your business, there are many things to consider. One thing that is an important consideration is an exit strategy. Do you want to pass on your business to your kids? Do you want them to work with you in the business? Do you want to sell it when you’re ready to retire? Maybe you can envision building the business up and then selling it as an amazing windfall?
You can always change your mind later depending on the situation but giving thought to your business legacy and a possible exit strategy is part of good business planning. If you do think you’re going to want to sell your business or pass it on to your children, that choice may mean a complete branding change, depending on how you’ve existed thus far.
For example, if you do want to sell your business down the road, branding the business under your personal name may make it difficult to sell. It does happen sometimes, but usually, businesses branded with a person’s name are harder to sell. Unless you become a publicly-traded company like Martha Stewart, consider other ways to brand your business to make it more sellable.
If you want your children to work with you and even take over the business someday, having a business branded by your family name can work great. Many famous businesses have that situation going on, such as Johnson & Johnson, which is a family-owned company.
If you want to build the business up and sell it the moment it becomes profitable, that is another tactic that many online business owners take. If you want to do that, you can. Set the plan in motion, ensuring that the business is profitable, well run, and branded appropriately so that a new owner can be successful too.
However, even though it works for other businesses to brand them with family names, really consider whether it’s likely to work for your online business or not so that you can brand your business in the best way for your needs, hopes, and dreams. Planning for something doesn’t mean you have to do it; it means that it will be possible to do it.
One thing you don’t want to do is think that you’re never going to want to stop working in your business. Many people who have online businesses often proclaim that they will never retire. They think the business will last forever until they die. The work is so fun and so profitable that they don’t want to retire.
That may be the case, but it might not be. You may end up tired, sick, or just finally want to take all the time off you can to be with loved ones. Nothing is wrong with retiring. Retirement might mean world travel, or finally getting your cabin in the mountains, or going on an RV trip around the country. Whatever happens, even if you keep working until you meet your maker, the best choice right now is to make plans that enable you to retire. When the time comes, you’ll have choices.
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