“Jan, it should be a canvas”
Last week, I was preparing a lecture to help business owners to better prepare the selling of their company. This Wednesday, I am the keynote speaker at a webinar of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Tactics for a successful sales, when selling your business in 2021. That’s the topic.
I believe the success of selling your business starts before any transaction is in the making. For many business owners, selling their business is emotional. For most people, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime-experience that involves many aspects — including their personal “being”. And the thinking process is a chaotic process that is full of the classic human thinking errors.
In order to streamline the “thinking about selling” process, I was also in the midst of a chaotic creation process. After some days, that process started to funnel down to three main reflection axes – the owner, the business, and the relationship between the owner and the business. I made some examples of typical businesses I knew the Estonian Chamber was aiming their webinar at. The major decision taking for each of them fitted nicely in that reflection scheme.
At first I named it “a reflection form”. I shared my thoughts with the ValuePartners, and Richard Gordon Kelly sent me an e-mail with feedback. “Great, but it should be a canvas that allows business owners to get their own thoughts on paper.” That’s why, now, this form is called the ‘Business Ownership Reflection Canvas’. Ready to help business owners reflect on why they would be selling their business – or not.
