Episode 671 - True Legacy

In this week's episode, Phil shares the experiences of four friends who recently retired or sold their businesses, highlighting their carefully planned transitions. Some prepared for their exits years in advance, starting the sales process over two years before the transition, while the retirees in the group began their planning up to 18 months ahead. Each friend took the time to thoroughly evaluate potential successors, ensuring their businesses were positioned for continued success. Phil emphasizes that creating a true legacy extends beyond past achievements; it's about building a business that remains resilient under new leadership. Looking ahead to 2025, he encourages listeners to begin thinking about their own legacy and succession planning.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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Transcript

Top performers in every field surround themselves with those who inspire them, who seek to build them up and who push them to reach beyond their current limits. I'm Phil Buchanan, executive chairman of Cannon Financial Institute. I designed Monday Morning Mojo to provide you with a weekly spark, a push and motivational insight to live your best life.

Thanks for joining. Good Monday morning. It is Phil here with episode 671 of Monday Morning Mojo. Over the last three months, I have had four good friends either sell their businesses or retire. In each instance, the transition went incredibly smooth. None of these were by accident. In the sale situations, the planning process for the eventual sale began at least 36 months.

Prior to the actual transaction in one retirement situation, the transition plan began 14 months ago with the other. It began more than 18 months ago. The business sales were the result of both optimizing the businesses and positioning those businesses to be very attractive to the market. to prospective purchasers.

Both businesses were professionally shopped and the ultimate transactions were concluded in relatively short order. With the retirement, the retiring principals were able to curate slates of prospective successors and work individually with those candidates to truly evaluate their potential. In both instances, the ultimate successor distinguished themselves not only to the retiring principal, but also to the remaining staff.

Thus the decision on the replacement was not only credible, but actually anticipated messaging to all employees on these four instances was also planned as thoroughly as the transactions themselves. The execution of the communication plans went very, very well. Now in contrast, far too many transitions don't go as smoothly.

Some of those are due to unforeseen events, a disability or a death of a principal. Others are simply the result of haphazard or non existent planning. It is incredibly hard to build a successful business or brand, but it is incredibly easy. to tarnish them. As a business owner or senior executive, your legacy isn't going to be evaluated simply on how well you did in the role, but also on how well you prepared the business and your successors to succeed post your involvement.

This means that you must plan for that eventuality. It has to start with catastrophic planning. What happens next week? If you aren't able to be involved from there, it goes on to include how you eventually wish the ultimate transition to go, whether you're selling a business or simply retiring. I can assure you of one thing, how you specifically plan the transition isn't likely to be the exact path it goes, but there will be a roadmap to follow.

You know, we spend so much time planning for how our businesses will operate with us in the next quarter, in the next year, over the next three years. But I want to challenge you as you work on your 2025 planning to take some time to reflect on your ultimate legacy. And that is the skill with which you'll eventually step away.

Leaving on a high note is something for which we should all aspire. Monday Morning Mojo is a production of Cannon Financial Institute. Executive producer of Monday Morning Mojo is Sarah Jones. Managing producer of Monday Morning Mojo is McCall Chamberlain. Editing and mixing is done by Danny Brunner. Until next time, I'm Phil Buchanan reminding you to be a force for good.

Have a great week and thanks for being part of the Mojo community.