75% of Owners Find Life After Retirement a Letdown
Seventy-five percent of former business owners reported being unhappy in their first 6 to 12 months of retirement, according to Pinnacle Equity Solutions. The surprising reason? They didn’t prepare themselves emotionally for life after retirement.
How hard can retirement be? It’s a question owners often ask. After all, days filled with relaxation, golf and gardening don’t sound so bad.
However, a shift has taken place amongst today’s baby boomers, especially those who are business owners. The notion of a relaxing retirement isn’t fulfilling to them. So what do they do? They work well into retirement age, thinking the best they can do is die at their desk.
Morbid as it sounds, it’s not overly farfetched. It’s tough for business owners to find satisfaction elsewhere when they’ve spent the majority of their lives deriving their personal identity from their work. Without their business, life can seem empty.
Perhaps retired CEO of Chrysler Corp, Lee lacocca, said it best: “You plan everything in life, and then the roof caves in on you because you haven’t done enough thinking about who you are and what you should do with the rest of your life.”
There is more to life than your business. It’s a tall order, but in order to think rationally when selling your business and enjoy retirement after, you must learn to separate yourself emotionally and spiritually from your company.
Understanding Your Place in Your Company
The first thing every owner must do before retirement is to identify the roles they play in their company. Small and mid-sized business owners wear many hats, often holding the title of CEO, while also working in the operations, sales, finance, processing or other departments.
In larger companies, owners tend not to spread themselves so thin, but still have other considerations. While they may hold the title of CEO, it’s likely their responsibilities align more with a COO, focusing more on the company’s long term vision than its strategies.
Whether you own a small or large business, the inability to hone in on exactly what you do can make it impossible to imagine anyone else filling your shoes after selling. Who else could possibly juggle as many responsibilities as well as you do?
However, if you take a step back and think about the essence of your responsibilities, you will begin to realize your own strengths and weaknesses as well as your likes and dislikes. This is important not only for turning your business over to new ownership, but also for thinking about what you will do in retirement.
Finding Your Personal Identity Outside of Work
The next step for separating yourself emotionally from your business is to reflect upon your personal life outside of work. What do people think of you? Of what accomplishments are you most proud of?
Once you retire, you’ll need to find a sense of personal fulfillment outside the business. It’s an important step for removing the label of “business owner” and viewing yourself as a person with other passions, goals and desires. If you don’t think about your personal identity ahead of time (or at all), retirement can become a daunting and uncertain place.
Retirement is a monumental and emotional change in your life. Preparing yourself can help you avoid feeling unsatisfied in retirement like 75 percent of business owners. Remember, being a business owner is only the beginning of who you are as a person.