There are so many people who dream of starting their own business, some jump right in others, start slow and steady and hope that things will slowly grow. Neither way is right or wrong, but as any entrepreneur will tell you, entrepreneurialism isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a lot of work!
Honestly, I don’t think I know a single entrepreneur who hasn’t wanted to walk away from their business once or twice throughout its existence.
Being an entrepreneur is a 24/7 sales job and it’s HARD WORK! If it wasn’t, everyone would own and run a successful business.
Let’s just say, being an entrepreneur isn’t for the faint of heart!
Deciding to close down your business isn’t easy. For one, you have employees relying on you for their livelihood, and if you’re anything like me, you care deeply for those you employ. You don’t just hire someone willy nilly, so when it comes time to let them go, not only does it hurt them, but it hurts you.
Another problem with closing your business is that for the past however many years you’ve been in business, your entire identity has revolved around being the owner of your business. For me, it was FITzee Foods. FITzee was open for 8 years before I eventually had to close the doors.
It was a heartbreaking time for me. I had put my heart and soul into that business, trying to keep it afloat for myself and for my employees, but I saw the writing on the wall and knew the time had come to close our doors.
My guest on Success Unfiltered, Alexis Tryon, shared how she came to the decision to close her first business and I actually had a HUGE a-ha moment…
I’ve been hosting Success Unfiltered for about a year now, and not one other entrepreneur has shared the story of closing their business, besides me (I’m sure you know my story well).
After interviewing Alexis, I decided that I’m going to start interviewing people who’ve had to make the tough decision to close their business to help each of you make that decision and process just a tad easier through sharing other people’s stories.
There is NO shame in having to close a business and SO MUCH to learn!
One thing that I want you to take away from story, is that people will always remember how you went out, just like they remember how you came in.
You want to be honorable, and not just up and disappear. When I had to close FITzee Foods I got out of all of my leases, and made sure that all of my contracts were in alignment. I even found new renters for the kitchen we were using!
I wanted everyone to remember that, while my business had closed, Michelle did everything she could to keep everything in order till the end.
Profitable, but Stuck
Alexis Tryon is the founder of Artsicle, which was a company that would show you a way to find beautiful art from around the world and in your neighborhood, but after 7 years in business, Alexis determined it was time to close her doors.
Alexis and her team had built the business, had made it profitable, but got stuck. Artsicle wasn’t growing any more, so Alexis determined the right thing to do was to move on.
For over a year, Alexis tried to sell her business, and just kept getting NO after NO, before she decided to throw the towel in, and just shut it down.
Shutting down Artsicle left Alexis in the worst hole she’d ever personally been in. Her entire identity had been built into Artsicle, just as mine had been built with FITzee Foods.
At that point all she was to herself was a founder. She lost track of how to be a friend or even a family member, because even though those are all part of who she is, she hadn’t had to focus on them in seven years.
Alexis took the time to rebuild her identity around being meaningful to people and providing value to others in ways they could measure. This helped her to begin take on consulting work over the past year, which has rebuilt her self-confidence and belief in herself.
Alexis and Her Final Decision
You might be wondering, why, if Artsicle was profitable, Alexis decided in the end to close.
Alexis had tried everything that they believed would be reasonable to keep the business afloat. They racked up a ton of credit card debt, and she even removed herself from the payroll. She wanted to do whatever it would take to get her business to the next level.
However, Alexis realized that by continuing to push she was holding herself back, as well her team.
Her team, at the time, was so incredibly loyal and none were willing to leave her. They planned on sticking with the business until the very end. Alexis wanted to help launch them into the next phase of their career, and shutting down Artsicle, would do that.
After having one final conversation with an investor, that failed to come through, she determined it was time.
Give Yourself Permission to Stop
Alexis didn’t just one day decide to close Artsicle, she had actually gone through the exercise of working out all of the steps that she’d need to go through in order to close, a year BEFORE she actually determined it was time to shut down.
She gave herself permission to stop, and go through a mental exercise of what exactly she’d do and how she’d make money to pay bills and payroll.
After she took this mental break to go through the process, she was able to see that it wasn’t quite time to close. She felt that she had one more swing in her!
A year later, when she came back to the same sort of dilemmas that she was in a year prior, with paying bills and payroll, she knew it was real. That it was actually time to close.
I love what Alexis did, and how she handled the closing of her business. I encourage you to go through the “what ifs” of business.
Ask yourself things like…
How would it work to close the business?
What would it mean for you personally?
What would it mean to your team?
Dream a little bit and take time to understand everything for yourself, before making any major decisions.
In Conclusion
A key thing I want you to remember, is that just because your business may have failed, does not mean you are a failure.
You are two separate entities. You can go on to create an incredible business in the future, just because you have a failure under your belt.
Just look at me. FITzee Foods was successful at one point, but I had to shut it down. After a year away from business, I came back and have created a new brand that I am so incredibly proud of.
What can you do today, to prepare you for any upsets in the future?
