What’s Next

For business owners who have run their company for many years it can be a difficult process to focus on what comes next after deciding to step back from day to day operations, retire or pursue other interests. You need to apply some serious consideration as to what you will do with the freedom and time that you will get back. Not just for yourself, but how it fits in with the rest of your family.

When most people think of retirement they assume that one day they will just stop working but don’t think much beyond the actual day. Have you considered what you will feel like after six months of doing nothing. My opinion is that a hard stop is not actually very healthy at all and is quite a shock to the system, especially hard working business owners who are used to working long, often stressful days.

I always advise that owners should transition away from their business over a period of time by reducing working days to fit around their new plans. Many owners still enjoy working but just want a little more freedom so working one or two days a week actually gives them a reason to get up each day.

In summary, plan how you would ideally want to spend your week and reverse engineer your working life around that, rather than what most people end up doing, and fit their life around their work commitments. Its not easy, but with a little effort you will end up with a template to get you started and you will wonder why you never did it ten years earlier.