The Blink of an Eye

Well, the holiday season has come and gone in the blink of an eye, and I expect by now most of us are back in the office, working away as per normal.

How time flies, I can (just) remember being young, (even my kids are grown up now) and as a young man with life stretching ahead of me, there seemed to be big periods of time between events or achievements; driving test, qualifications, first home, first child, more qualifications, and I guess that’s part and parcel of trying to get on in life, it seems to take ages to get anywhere.

Fast forward, now, everything seems very condensed with time flying way too quickly for my liking. One of my IFAs summed it up a few weeks ago saying, “Christmas will soon be here again, Easter next, a few birthdays, throw in a couple of RMAR returns and it’ll be the end of another year”

A very cheery thought, but it does make you think, at some point you do have to start relaxing and really enjoy the fruit of all those years of hard work. If not now, when?

Last week I spoke to a couple of IFAs who are thinking of retiring in the not-too-distant future, a married couple, both in their fifties who have run a successful business for many years and during their “Thinking time” they started to discuss their future.

Basically, they are the business; they have no family or senior management who could take over the reins, and they both agreed that at some point they would want to sell and leave immediately, no hanging around for a couple of years to help out with a smooth transfer.

I mention their situation because at their age, still being relatively young, there are more options open to them, they just have about enough time to integrate other persons into their business, who could help facilitate a smooth sale allowing them to leave almost immediately.

This is an important consideration for someone thinking of selling and leaving immediately, as it is in all parties’ interest to ensure that as much of the client bank is retained as possible. For the acquirers because they want to keep the clients, for the vendors as they want the maximum amount possible for the sale of their business, and of course for the clients who want a smooth transition and continued advice and support.

We spend a good deal of time with IFAs, sometimes years before a sale, helping them put their business on the most attractive footing possible so that when the day does come to retire, we can help them maximize their return for all those years of hard work.

This January if you are thinking about making changes to your business either now or in the future, please do give us a call.

As always, any first meeting is always at our cost.

Best Regards