Why The End Of The Year Causes People To Buy and Sell A Business?
Whether intentionally or not, the en of the year tends to be a season of evaluation for business buyers and business sellers. I am not speaking of the critical questions that need to be detailed during the annual company review. What I mean is that the holidays, by their very nature, drive retrospection about what is important and what shape of reality revealed under scrutiny.
We spend time with our families and friends - immersed in all the joy and pressure that holiday gatherings can invoke. There seems to be ample opportunity to reflect as to whether we have been the kind of partner, parent, or friend that we really want to be.
This time of taking a look may come whether or not we want it - drifting through our thoughts as we sit up late in the stillness when others have gone to bed, or nagging us from sleep in the wee hours while others dream in anticipation of celebration.
The introspection may be a dreaded spectre, tinged with guilt or despair about perceived neglect or failures. Perhaps holiday gatherings tend to bring out the worst rather than the best, so that any other activity would be much preferred.
But the time to think and evaluate might also be a welcome diversion, anticipated with pleasure and expectation. When the clamor of preparations and busy-ness can be laid aside, there is great value in examining the answers to some not-quite-business questions, which still have significant business ramifications.
As you tick off your achieved goals and take note of loops night quite closed, consider this:
Have you been consistent in leisure and creative pursuits beyond problem-solving as management? Are you taking time to enjoy the benefits of your industry? One day you will awaken to find yourself at the short end of youth and health, your drive and ability irreversibly on the wane. Then what has it all been for?
Are you reaping good fruits from your sowing? Wisdom is gained from time and hindsight, and invariably, you will have to decide if you have you had the impact you have wanted to on your family – those who watch you work and enjoy the provision you bring home. On your company culture – the people whose bread and butter derive from your choices and pursuits. On your community in a larger scale– the examples you have set, the economic impact you have had, the policies you have advocated and the humanitarian empathy you move in? Is your basket full of good fruit or is it somewhat bitter?
Is it time to gather the courage to begin something new? Perhaps the coming year is the year to own a business instead of working for “the man”, to buy a business to grow instead of settling in for the long haul. With the power of new year resolutions behind new commitments, your time of reflection may propel you into something bigger than you have had for a while. Perhaps and acquisition…and perhaps a divestiture!
No one will promise that each new year holds great and unfailing success, that one is guaranteed accomplishment just because the calendar page has changed. But only the fearful will insist that it is better to not try because there is no guarantee. Even if things are satisfactory and nothing is clamoring for change, to not go forward is to be still, which sooner or later is to stagnate.
The final most important question we can ask ourselves at this time of year is this one: What can I change to make it better? For ourselves, for our families and loved ones, for those upon whom we bear influence. It is the answer to this question that will drive the work of the annual review, indeed, of the rest of our lives.
