One of the topics I covered in my recent presentation to franchisees of a major Australian franchise business was ‘when to tell your staff that you’re selling, retiring etc’.
We’ve covered this quite a bit in the past, but one element I highlighted to the franchisees was the impact of your business culture.
As I said in my presentation, the direction you take with this decision often comes down to the culture that you’ve developed within your organisation.
Have you developed a culture that’s about continuous improvement, ‘no one’s indispensable’, responsibility for important functions spread throughout the team, etc?
In that case, it may be less confronting for the staff to know that you’re going through a succession or exit process.
Alternatively, the business might be very reliant on a couple of people and the thought of those people leaving might bring great instability to the business.
In that case, it might be wiser not to share your plans until you have a clear idea of what a sale or succession outcome will look like, and then you can be transparent and open with your position.
Take a look at our other blog posts on this topic for more detail around when to tell your team you are planning to exit.
Deciding when to tell staff you’re selling is definitely one of those situations where an experienced advisor can be a great support.
If you would like advice about any aspect of selling your business, contact the team at JPAbusiness on 02 6360 0360 or 02 9893 1803 for a confidential, obligation-free discussion.
