Our Philosophy for Entrepreneurial Retirement/Redirection

Entrepreneurs are a unique and amazing group of people. They work 80 hours per week for themselves so they won’t have to work 40 hours per week for someone else.

As an entrepreneur myself, I appreciate the unique opportunities and challenges business owners face during their lifetime. While there are many business and personal issues I help entrepreneurs overcome, one of the biggest challenges for most business owners is the transition from owning their business to not owning their business. While some entrepreneurs are comfortable selling their business and retiring to a full-time life of leisure, many aren’t. In reality, most entrepreneurs want some ratio of work to leisure because even though they want to enjoy the fruits OF their labor, they also enjoy the fruits produced IN their labor. If this sounds like you, then we may have a solution for you.

There are many financial and emotional implications for entrepreneurs who build a business, sell it, and retire. Understanding the financial implications facing business owners such as; reducing taxes, maximizing business valuation, transitioning out of their business, generating income in retirement, having retirement income last their whole life, and efficiently transferring wealth to loved ones at death are critically important. While the financial implications are critical, the emotional implications are crucial. Issues such as; what will I do with my time, what will my employees do, what will my customers do, what will happen to my business when I’m gone, etc. But the most challenging emotional issue for most entrepreneurs by far is, who will I be after I sell my business?

Most entrepreneurs find significant value in the business they’ve built. For this reason, I often teach entrepreneurs how to redirect, not retire. Retirement feels final for business owners. Redirection, on the other hand, feels transitional, like transitioning from one phase of life to the next. To the entrepreneur who receives personal value from producing something, in Redirection, they find new ways to produce something they value.

Redirection to a new type of work is often a meaningful solution for entrepreneurs. The key to redirection is work, regardless of whether they work for service or work for pay. Working for service is for the person who has adequate wealth to enjoy life and also desires to serve in a ministry or charity without compensation. Working for pay is for the person who wants to produce or create something and make money from their efforts. The person working for pay may choose to start a new business or work for someone else. Regardless of which they choose; leisure, service, or pay, for entrepreneurs, having a strategic plan for redirection / retirement makes the transition from the accumulation phase of life to the distribution phase of life go a lot smoother.