Owners are a Minority

When it comes to careers, business owners are a minority of the population. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) lists businesses with 5-99 employees at around 3.3 million and only 123,000 businesses with 100-499 employees (the SBA’s largest classification for a “small” business). Overall, that means only around 1% of our population are private employers.

So What? – This is an important consideration when discussing exit planning with these owners particularly when discussing what their identity looks like are they transition. Owners understand they are unique. They have identified with their owner status in every aspect of their business and personal life. When asked at social events, “What do you do?” the answer is “I am a business owner”. This describes a life role.

This can be an issue after they exit their business.

Telling people “I’m retired”. Other people who say that never built an organization. They didn’t take the same risks. They didn’t deal with the same broad variety of issues and challenges.

This is why so many former owners suffer from a lack of identity after they leave.