Your Business, Your Life, 5 Years, 5 Options | LAYC 91

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Welcome to the Lift As You Climb podcast, where it's all about the

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journey and the joy of discovering who you are now, deciding who you want

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to become, and embracing your genuine identity, influence, and impact.

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In each episode, we'll explore how life's experiences have prepared us for what

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we choose to do next and how to create our Encore, write our own script, and

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star in the next stage of our lives.

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I'm your host, your Encore strategist, and transformation catalyst, Isabel Alexander.

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Hi, I'm Isabel Alexander and I'm here to sing for you today.

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Just kidding.

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No, I'm not going to sing.

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That's not one of my many talents and strengths.

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I want to remind you of the lyrics of a country song, ooh, eons ago.

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But if you're my people, you know who I'm talking about when I say,

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"Take This JOB and Shove It!"

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Uh, which was quite popular back in the day and probably still is today.

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In fact, it's a term that's often used when you are just so fed

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up with the job, with the man.

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Or, in our case, with the woman.

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I have often said that I'd like to take this job and shove it.

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But then I realized, I work for me!.

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Yeah, that's the deal, when you own your own business, you can't just say, I quit.

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You cannot say, boss, take this job and shove it.

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Although often, I know, you know, let's fess up, we'd like to.

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I used to make a lot of jokes around this, but as they say, in all

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jest, there is an element of truth.

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I used to say, I work for a real bitch!

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Man, she drives me hard.

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She never gives me a break.

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I can't please her.

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Nothing's good enough.

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She always wants to do something more, bigger, better.

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And then, oops, wait a minute.

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I'm my own bitch.

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So as an entrepreneur, I know you, I know you feel me, I know you get

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this, I know you sing the song.

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That there are so many times that we would like to quit our own role, our own job, as

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the CEO of a company that we have built.

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And so that's why these days I am having a lot of conversations

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with my peers, with my clients.

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There are so many of us of the Baby Boomer generation and the

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Gen X generation, especially in light of recent world events.

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We're worn out.

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We're burnt out.

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We are exhausted, depleted, disillusioned, demoralized.

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It's a constant battle every day to keep a business afloat.

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Hell, just keep it afloat.

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Not even think about growing it.

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It's become a very arduous task and often a very thankless job.

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wHen you come to that stage of you don't love your business anymore and

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you want to take it and shove it.

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You know, you've got options and that's what I'm doing.

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I am holding the hand and talking my clients through those options.

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And there are five.

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So when you just think, Oh man, like I am so screwed.

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I am chained to this for the rest of my life.

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Hold up there.

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You aren't.

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You do have options and the five options that I discussed in the

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strategy sessions with my clients are you can stick it out, you can choose.

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To just do nothing.

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Saying no is a choice.

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Ignoring it is a choice.

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And just, I don't know, go on blindly hoping things are going to get better.

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Choice number one is stick it out, status quo, and hope that your fairy godmother

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comes along someday and goes, Bink!

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And it's all better.

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Option number two?

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is just fucking quit.

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That's it.

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Throw in the towel.

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Give back the keys.

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Lock the door.

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Pull the plug on the website.

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Lay off all the staff.

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Like, just walk away.

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Because sometimes I like to just toy with that idea.

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What if I just silently disappear and not tell anybody and I don't come back?

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I don't answer those emails, I don't respond to those urgent messages for

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answers, money, attention, brilliance.

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What if I'm just done and I quit and I walk off into the sunset?

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There are some complications with that, ladies, and we know that.

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The third option, which of course is the one that I get very excited

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about because that's who I am, I love to look at a situation and go,

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Hmm, how do we make this better?

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How do we make this bigger?

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And that is to transform.

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But really, what am I talking about?

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It's not about transforming the business first.

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It's about transforming our role as the , . The Chief Cook and Bottle

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Washer, the CEO, the president, the executive director, the person where

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the buck stops, is transforming our role within the company and our relationship

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with that business, and that's where all real, sustainable change begins.

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It's stopping thinking about us having to be the burdened business owner and

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transforming our thinking, elevating our feelings to chief investor.

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And I talk a lot about that with my clients and repositioning that, because

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from that opens your aperture into amazing opportunities to transform the business,

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in the way that is right for you.

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The fourth, option for you is to scale the business.

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Now, you know, you kind of have to involve option three, transform you, to

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be able to scale the business because that's also a very...common scenario is

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that we as the head of the company, the primary asset, the face that's first

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in front of the customers, suppliers, the bankers, the staff, is to change

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our role so that then we are able to scale the business with new talent.

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new ideas, new opportunities that you can't always see when you're stuck

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in the woods, when your nose is right up against your own windshield.

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You can't scale a business that way.

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You need to transform your role in the organization to be able to do it.

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And then, hey, write a country song about that because it's going to be beautiful.

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And the fifth option that I review and I talk about increasingly these

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days is, when can I sell my business?

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Uh, when is it the right time to get my business ready to sell it?

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Well, you know, the trite answer is, The day you start your business

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is when you start laying down the plan, the path, the vision for

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someday I will sell this company.

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And these are the important things that I must do to make this business ready

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for sale and to get the highest amount of value for my investment in that company.

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And depending on what your company is, there are a variety of things

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that we go through to talk about that.

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But interestingly, even number five, selling your business.

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It begins in number three, transforming your role, because I will tell you

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from my own personal experience I had an eight figure business, 20

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years, and I got to that Take This Job and Shove It role in my own life.

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I wasn't prepared.

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No one had given me the guidebook, the manual, or held my hand to prepare

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myself for the emotional transformation that I needed to make to successfully

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maximize the value from my company and what I got from it in the marketplace

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and to stay strong and bullet proof.

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Proof, proof through the sale process cause Wow!

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And I'll share that conversation with you more in depth and another

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episode in the future, and I think I'd like to bring some other women on.

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And we'll talk about that because I tell you, they do not tell you that

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in the How To's of textbooks of running your business about the emotional

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impact that you will go through in that process of selling your baby.

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Okay, so that is a lot to think about, but that's what we're working on right now.

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And preparing for, what is that choice?

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Do you want to just stick it out, ride it out, the way things are right now?

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with your company.

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And maybe that's what you need to do while you think a little while.

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But if you're like me and you realize, wow, I only got so much time left in my

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life to do the things that I feel very drawn to do, , to have the influence

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and the impact that I want to, and also the experiences and create the memories.

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So I, I don't recommend option one.

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I recommend that.

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you start the process of thinking about what is it that

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you want next in your life?

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What do you really want for who you are today?

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And what would you like the next 10, 20, 30 years of your life to be more of?

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Is it important to you to come up with a strategy to think about the time, the

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flexibility, the freedom, the fulfillment that you have earned as a woman business

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owner who has been in the trenches and worked the J O B for this long?

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Or do you, are, is your business the kind that you just fold it up?

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and put it in a box under the bed.

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I don't know, but I will tell you that there are things you can't just

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shove it in the box under the bed.

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There are winding down legal processes, financial processes, of course, and I

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also guarantee you There is that whole emotional aspect that you must contend

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with as well, and if you don't, it will come back and bite you in the ass.

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Because remember, your whole identity...

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is vested currently in this business and it has been for a long time.

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Okay, so maybe not your whole identity but a great deal of who you are today

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is encapsulated in that business card that says You are the CEO of this,

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and your habits, your routines, your networks, everybody in your social

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environment are somehow involved in that.

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So, when, if you choose to quit that business, put it in that

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proverbial box under the bed.

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You're going to hear a lot of racket from the people all around you.

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Number three, transform your role with the business, transform

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your role with yourself.

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Celebrate the fact that you are wanting something more different

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in your life at this time, and that you effin well deserve it.

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But how do you go from, well, I'm in that path, that's my behavior, that's my

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pattern, that's my routine, to stepping out and empowering others to carry on

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the vision and also letting go of the ego that you may have around but nobody

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can do it the way I do it or as well as I would do it or I don't trust anybody else.

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How do you build out that team and give them the vision, empower them to go

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forward and give them Accountability, the reportability back to you on the

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metrics of achievements so that you know it's going and be stand back and

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watch it flourish because you are a fabulous leader, mentor, guide, and

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chief investor in your own organization.

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Scale it.

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Make the decision, okay, before I am ready to sell this business, I

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want more out of it, more fun, more financial certainty, more opportunity,

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more experience, more impact.

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Make that decision, and then, really, sit with a business advisor, sit with

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your coach, sit with your mastermind groups, and talk about, really, What

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are the other possible opportunities for scaling your business that

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you may not automatically think?

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Because you know a lot, but you don't know everything.

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And that is why I recommend, and I did, I belong to peer groups

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with like minded women who are a little farther up the ladder.

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than I was, to learn from their experiences and get their

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perspective and welcome their wisdom.

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I worked with my own coaches, and I still do, because again, I know

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a lot, but I don't know everything.

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And so it is so good to reach up and ask for a hand up, some ideas, some

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wisdom, some shared resources, and an opportunity to just look at things through

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someone else's eyes and experience.

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Then, of course, finally, selling the business.

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That's the next of the five options.

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And that is, okay, if that is the decision, you're doing it because

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you want something else in your life.

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Whether that's the freedom, the money, starting your next business,

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which many of my clients do.

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Whether it's, taking a world trip, which is what I'm doing, but I'm still

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running a business and working around the world, to understanding fully that

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it takes a lot of work to prepare a business to get the maximum value for

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it and caution you, there are millions and millions of people who right now

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are thinking in North America that it is time to sell their business.

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So, be ahead of the curve, get expert advice in this decision, and be

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prepared for the amount of work that is involved, both emotionally and

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financially, and, you know, time space to prepare it so that you can sell it.

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Great opportunities are ahead of you and you have choices and

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I'm excited to hear what are the ones that you're thinking about.

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Please reach out.

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if you want me to bring on some guests to talk about any of

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those options in more depth.

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My own personal perspective, or you'd like to come and share your story

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about your experiences with selling your business or transforming your

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role or your favorite country western song, I would love to hear from you.

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On that note, have a great, great year!

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Thank you for spending this time with me.

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I hope our conversation added value to your day and expanded your

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vision for your legacy and impact.

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Please join me in increasing my impact and expanding my reach to even more

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people by sharing this episode on social media, with friends, and leaving

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a review on Apple iTunes, Spotify.

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Or channel of choice to catch all the latest from me.

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Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.

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Connect with me and others in our community Facebook group, the Lift

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As You Climb Movement, where you can engage, be inspired by and grow

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with a tribe of like-minded people.

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As I evolve as a podcaster and spokeswoman for collaboration and

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economic empowerment, your input and feedback are especially important.

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To me, I welcome your suggestions and questions to hello@theencorecatalyst.com.

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Until we meet again, please remember your success may be the foundation

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for someone else's to together we can raise success ladders around the world.