Are You Prepared to Die?

This might seem like a grim topic given the times but this is a necessary conversation because many people are not talking about it.

In life we talk about preparing for death, crisis, and mishaps constantly. We are constantly inundated with insurance commercials, medication commercials, many of us put money in a savings account or 401K but when was the last time you really thought about what would happen to your business if you died?

Now maybe you have thought about this and have thought about setting up a trust and talked to your partner about taking over in your absence. But what you might not have thought about is the fact that your partner (in business or life) probably has no idea how to do your job. Think about this for a moment, if you died tomorrow and your partner had to pick up where you left off and keep the business running, would they know your passwords? Would they know how to run your social media? Would they know who to invoice and how to do that? I could go on and on!

Did you know that 70% of second generation businesses fail? And even worse 90% of third generations fail!?! This means that even if you don’t die tomorrow, let’s say you live a long life and have no issues, one day you will either close your company or pass it on to a child or other younger family member. This seems like a great idea but do you know why so many businesses fail when they are passed down? First, it’s because many times the new person is not passionate about the company. The second though, because the knowledge about how to run the company died with the original owner! The company didn’t have written down Standard Operating Procedures!

Documenting your process, while helpful for hiring and growing the company, is most important to the sustainability of your company after you leave. It might seem fine for you to have no documentation around your process right now because maybe you are a solopreneur and don’t feel like it’s a priority. But I’m telling you right now, it’s when you are the only person running things that it’s most important for you to document what you are doing! Right now more than ever we are being reminded by the universe that life is short and it is a privilege. Take this opportunity to begin creating your SOPs if you haven’t done so already. My virtual door is always open if you need help getting started, have questions, or just need someone to come in and create everything for you! It’s time to take action and be prepared!