It’s not too early to think about making Valentine’s Day special for your spouse or partner. Since they’re precious to you, you want to give them something precious as a token of your love. So here’s what they really want: more of your time – the most precious commodity on Earth.
Time – The Great Equalizer
In his book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, author Oliver Burkeman says the most any of us can realistically hope for in our lifespan is about 4,000 weeks. As you’re reading this, you can do your own math. (Prepare for a shock to the system.) He writes, “Arguably, time management is all life is.”
Writer Charles Eisenstein said, [Even as a child] “Life, I knew, was supposed to be more joyful than this, more real, more meaningful, and the world was supposed to be more beautiful. We were not supposed to hate Mondays and live for the weekends and holidays. We were not supposed to be kept indoors on a beautiful day, day after day.”
Here’s the other thing that makes time so precious: we all get exactly the same amount of it. Whether you’re Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, or just, well, you, we’re all allotted the same 24 hours per day and a lifespan that remains a mystery. C.S. Lewis wrote, “The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
Meaningful Conversations Lead to Meaningful Plans
So why not start a meaningful conversation over Valentine’s Day dinner? Talk about how much time you spend in your business and what else you and your partner or your family could be doing with it. I have worked with several clients who stayed in their business until their 70s or 80s, and some lost their gamble with time. One client’s wife died the day he closed on his manufacturing business; she never saw a single day of their retirement together.
We know that selling your company is an emotional decision as much as it is a business one. That’s why a heart-to-heart talk on the day we prioritize our hearts is a great idea. This conversation becomes especially important for anyone approaching the fourth quarter of life.
PIck The Right Option To Free Up Your Time
If you’re not ready to sell outright, you still have options. You could commit to hiring or promoting your successor – someone capable who can learn to run the business and give you (and your partner) the gift of time off. Time to travel, time to pursue interests together, time to simply be together while you both can enjoy it. Finding the right person to run your business as well as you do can often be easier said than done, especially for small businesses with a limited budget. However, many small business owners have successfully pulled this off, and it is a viable option with the right planning and resources.
In the short term, over the next year or so, you might be investing more time and resources, But you’d be spending your time and resources where it matters. You’ll be investing in both your own future and the company’s future.
You could also sell part of the company to an investor, which might give you the best of both worlds. You could step back from the financial responsibility, set your own terms about how much time you spend in the business, and then get a second bite of the apple when you sell the whole company a few years from now.
The point is- you can start the discussion now, when you have options, energy, and enough time left to enjoy the fruits of your labor. If you’ve been thinking about selling your business, retiring, or simply taking a step back, this is a great time to have that discussion out loud and see what your partner has to say about it. It’s going to be the best gift you could give them.
Plus, chocolate. Trust me on this!
If I can help you evaluate how to start planning to sell your business, a good first step is to learn what your company is worth.
