Aging out of the business you built from the ground up

“Am I aging too dramatically” is a question that has the country transfixed and also plays out in many Anchorage companies. What happens when a successful entrepreneur, who has built a thriving business from the ground up, gets feedback from others that they are “too old” to continue as they have? What if these entrepreneurs have spent the last three, four or five decades charging forward with their feet on the accelerator? Do they brake, aim for the nearest exit, pull over to the slow lane or just pause on the shoulder and deliberate? What happens to the entrepreneur, the company and to the people who work there?

In recent weeks, I’ve had calls from business owners asking themselves those questions. Most often it’s an owner who doesn’t have anyone in their employ who can buy or otherwise take over the company. Said one caller, “None of my employees have enough money to buy the business. Several of them might be able to swing it if they went into it together, but then that opens up a new set of problems.”

Said another, “I’d got two or three employees who want the business, but each of them expects me to bankroll them. That would leave me holding the bag if they flopped. And if I chose one of them, the others would leave.”

Said a third, “I’m getting older. I’m just not as sharp as I once was, and a couple of my employees seem to be taking advantage of that. Also, I learned two days ago that my top employee is floating her resume. I pulled her into my office and asked her why. She said she needed to safeguard her and her family’s future and didn’t know how long I’d keep the company going, or if I’d just shut it down with no notice.”

“My current employees are talented,” said a fourth. “But all of them have a glorified idea of what owning a business is. I’ve weathered the hard times, and don’t know that any of them have that in  them. And, I have to admit, I’d rather shut my business down than sell it on the cheap.”

The stakes for these entrepreneurs and those who work for them and count on regular paychecks are high. I suggested to several owners that they check with a business broker, only to receive callbacks reporting that the brokers had given them a painful truth — that without them at the helm, their businesses weren’t sellable. “I’d have to indenture myself to the purchasing company for three to five years If I sold,” one owner said. “Why would I do that when I’m not sure I want to work that long?”

A recent Wall Street Journal article, The Age Question Looms Over America’s Bosses, reports that more than half the private businesses in the U.S. are owned by people older than 55. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects there will be twice as many employees 75 and older in 2030 as there were in 2020, many of them highly situated professionals who’ve chosen to work past traditional retirement ages.

So what’s the answer when you’re a business owner aware you’re no longer who you once were, yet you’re the one clients and employees trust, and without you your business isn’t worth much? Do you call “time” on yourself or keep going?

The painful truth: Entrepreneurs need to decide on the answer to this before they have nothing left in their gas tank. For many business owners, that’s three to 10 years ago, which means they’re currently caught with few options.