Stepping away from the business you created is hard. Sometimes you need to call in the experts to help you transition to retirement effectively. By Paul Farmer
Tom sat quietly in his corner office. Five years ago, the couch against the window was where he spent too many nights – much to his family’s growing dislike.
Now, it was only used by his family when they would come in to catch up for lunch. Tom had built a business, which had grown from a one-man show to a thriving company with more than a dozen employees.
One restless evening five years ago, Tom decided he’d had enough. He was losing the love of those he cared most about, his business had become his entire focus, and the frustration levels had never been higher – the 20-hour days were sucking the life out of him.
But who could he turn to He needed help to work out what was missing and what he actually wanted.
The next morning, Tom plucked up the courage to ring a phone number he had from a Google search the night before – that was to Mentoris Group. Tom had already taken the first piece of action to change. We had a no-obligation, free, 20-minute chat about his space and whether we were going to be a good fit, as we do with all leads.
Tom passed the two Rules we have:
So, we agreed to run a two-hour strategy session, where we created a picture of what Tom wanted his business to be in 12 months, what needed to change, and who he needed in his space to make it happen. We also created a five-year ‘intention’ – for Tom to be a consultant to his own business and have it operate without him. This scared Tom, as he couldn’t see how this would ever be possible – YET.
Identifying what needed to shift was key. So, we asked Tom to ask the following questions:
Tom, to his credit, identified a lot he could hand over to those already in his business. Over time he handed day-to-day responsibilities to his 2IC, his trusted operations manager, who had been with the company since its early days. Letting go was harder than he expected. He felt anxious, but without doing this he was never going to become that consultant.
Without being in the weeds, Tom noticed patterns he hadn’t seen before. Meetings dragged on without clear outcomes. Expectations weren’t being set up front, profitability wasn’t a focus and most troubling was an increasingly disengaged team. The solid culture that Tom thought was there, was fading.
The picture of the business without Tom was drawn up, which initially made him feel sad. How could this thing he created and spent so much time building now not need him. This happened to my own father, who had spent a lifetime saving people’s lives (he was a pharmacist) – and now he felt like he wasn’t needed. His identity was wrapped up in others needing him – but the truth was that he was an amazing human in his own right, even without having to save others.
The initial period of change was rocky. Old habits die hard. There was some resistance of the new structure: “But you’ve always been the face of the company Tom”.
Slowly, based on a strategy day (run by the Mentoris team) including the key decision makers and open communication, the business began to shift. Teams communicated more openly. Ideas flowed, clients noticed the difference with their feedback getting more positive, and they started to interact with the team and not go looking for Tom.
The culture changed and each person started to understand their place in the business and how they could impact the direction.
We created three focus areas for Tom:
Tom had clarity and loved that he got to have this new role. He worked with the senior team members to ensure the strategy was clear and exciting. He would spend time in the business connecting with team members, a day here with a delivery driver and a day on site with a broom talking to everyone. Also, he wasn’t on the tools – he was there to support, share knowledge and connect.
Tom looked back at his week and realised he was a lucky man. He hadn’t been “on the tools” for a long time, he had seen the business expand, and he now had a succession plan in place. The business was set to be purchased internally over time by the team.
Becoming a consultant to his own business wasn’t about abandoning it. It was about creating perspective, being okay with getting the right people on board and helping them own their space, and creating a workplace where thriving was the culture.
Tom has begun the selling-down process, he plays golf two days each week, he spends time with his family – and he’s added many more years to his life because of his decision to become a consultant to his business.
At Mentoris we change lives, helping business owners see what’s possible and giving them the belief to make it happen.