Blogs

You will not get a Superman or Wonder Woman if you hire a GM for your small or medium-sized business.

We have met many business owners who have tried unsuccessfully to do this themselves. Whether the person comes from within or externally there are some key reasons for this.

Exiting your business now makes sense for many business owners. Why wait?

The Platform 1 NZ Business Owner Succession Survey in April 2020 showed that 76% of business owners > 60 years old were looking at succession within the next 3-5 years and the pandemic had changed the succession thinking of 30% of business owners. We are now a year down the track and many business owners are still in a holding pattern and considering options. You are naturally thinking about when is the right time to exit.

It was a challenging 2020 for many business owners so what are your goals for 2021? Whether your business has been impacted positively or negatively your business succession should be a priority particularly if you are in the baby-boomer demographic and looking for a change of lifestyle.

Business owner Chris wants to retire… but not yet. By exiting his electronics manufacturing company gradually, via Platform 1’s Business Owner Transition model, he gets to enjoy the best of both worlds.

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You have been thinking about business succession for some time and are ready to spend less time on the business and more time doing the things you enjoy.

You are concerned that now may not be the best time to sell your business outright due to the economic climate and worried that someone won’t buy it or worse offer you less than you deserve. Also, why sell 100% of your business now when the market may perceive it to now have a lower value ?

Why not sell down 25% of your business to a talented person with capital who can share the burden, bring fresh ideas and help you grow it?

New Zealanders often like to try their hand at projects especially when it comes to DIY jobs around the house. We pride ourselves on having a can-do attitude. This can transcend itself into business when owners are looking at exit planning strategies. It may sound easy to elevate a key staff member or an external person into your business as part of a succession plan – but is it really?

If you have a business succession solution in place, is it likely to be impacted adversely by recent events? Is there cause to rethink the option selected or the timeframe?

There is a growing pool of available people looking now to work and invest in small/mid-size businesses and Platform 1 has plenty of these people already identified in our database.

During this pandemic, many business owners are having a challenging time and as business owners ourselves we feel your pain. If you have a business succession plan in place is it likely to be impacted adversely by recent events? Is there cause to rethink the option selected or the timeframe?

It’s well documented that finding key staff members is a problem for many business owners in NZ . In some cases, it can only be solved by training or importing staff but what it often requires now is a different approach. The same strategy that got you key staff in the past won’t always work today with the unemployment rate at 4.2%.

Simply advertising on a job site as the only strategy is only going to reach a portion of the market. Generally, this will be people actively (or in some cases desperately) looking to move on from their current position, those not currently in paid employment or perhaps “consulting” as an interim step.