I have a great disappearing act, though my wife Margaret, doesn't appreciate it much.
I usually do this act when company comes over and stays late. If they don't get the hint when I blow out all of the candles, I usually say that I am going up to do laundry, or when they are a little unfamiliar to me, or friends of Margaret's, I just disappear.
In my mind, I imagine them not missing me for an hour or two, and then getting a hint and going home after a great evening.
In reality, I hear about it the next day when Margaret tells me that I keep the hours of an eight-year-old, and that she was embarrassed by my antics.
Disappearing a business is usually much harder. Sure, we can blow out the candles, turn off the lights, put a sign on the door, send our employees home and tell them that the party is over, but there is usually much more to it.
Getting to the point where you make the decision to close up shop comes after a lot of stress, shame and disappointment. It happens every day and it is so stressful for business owners.
I had to close up shop once. One of my first ventures 30 years ago was a company called Winewear Fashions.
My parents had a "great idea for a new wine cooler."
They had friends over late, lots of wine, and instead of disappearing the idea, kept it and told me about it the next day. My brother Rob and I thought it was good too. Rob disappeared down south and I decided to run with the idea and build a company around it. I built a prototype, came up with a plan, sold shares in the company to friends and family and went on the road selling the product.
I struggled for almost two years. I didn't take wages, I lived off my savings and the goodwill of family.
I had money to pay back to investors but I didn't know how I could manage it. I prayed a lot.
There was the shame of not being as successful as I had portrayed, the disappointment of knowing that the venture was failing. The sense of being overwhelmed with all the details.
One day I got the idea of selling the business and then was lucky enough to find a couple of guys who bought into my vision and wanted to purchase it.
They didn't pay me as much as I wanted, however I was able to pay back most of the money I owed to my investors.
The company disappeared and so did the stress.
Sometimes I talk with business owners who would just like their business to disappear.
They say things like "I just want it to go away. If I had a buyer, I would sell it right now. I am so overwhelmed, I don't know what to do next, I'd like to quit but I can't."
Most business owners have so much tied up in their business that they have no other option but to continue. They have invested their life savings and money that wasn't even theirs.
Perhaps the business is slightly profitable but they know that no one else would want to buy it. What can they do?
Here are five things you can do if you are in this situation:
1. Plug profit holes - You need to stop the bleeding, talk to your accountant or get a business coach to help you if you don't know how to do this quickly.
2. Get your team working - Nobody wants to buy a business where you are micromanaging every detail.
3. Look for additional markets for your product or service. Buyers want to know that there is potential for growth. One of the great ways of making your stress disappear is to get sales to the point where the business is profitable.
4. Come up with a plan, for the future. Yours and the business. Without a plan its only a pipe dream. You need to know what you want and start moving in that direction.
5. When all else fails - close it down. If you really can't make the business go, there is no shame in shutting the doors. Remember, you are not the business. The business might have failed but you didn't. In fact, you did what so many people only dream about. You learned so much and grew so much.
Disappearing is so hard for entrepreneurs.
There are many details that need to be taken care of but in the end of the day, selling or closing down a business when no buyer can be found can save your life.
The stress associated with a struggling business can suck the life out of you. I know, I have been there.
Dave Fuller is a certified professional business coach and author of the book Profit Yourself Healthy. Email dave@profityourselfhealthy.com
