How a founder can successfully exit their business

They said I couldn’t do it.

They wagged their fingers (metaphorically) and shook their heads (imperceptibly).

They basically refused to believe it was possible, and quoted examples to back up what had happened previously. What were they talking about?

The fact that I, as founder of Before I Go Solutions?, was wanting to exit the business into the hands of another person to take the company forward.?

And not only that, but to do it gracefully, easily and successfully.?

I had always been clear since the beginning of Before I Go Solutions? in 2016, that I would one day want to be passing this on to someone else, and have it be a legacy I left behind.?

I must admit I was a little surprised when I realised that this time had come last year, 2023, as I hadn’t expected it so soon. But when I looked back at my whole career, I’d never done anything for longer than 6 years, so this was not so unusual.?

Others saying it couldn’t be done just made me more determined. It invigorated my inner rebel, who responded by saying ‘Well, just watch me!’

So here’s 14 things I have learnt about making that transition a success. I didn’t research beforehand, by the way. I just went by my own instinct, and this is what I learnt.

First, I set a goal, to give me a cut-off point and help me take action. I was looking for someone who would take on the running of the company, and I had no idea where they would come from.?End of Life Planning is an unusual area to be in (still), so the pot to choose from would be small. But I was clear, and clarity is the number one thing that is needed for any project. I made a doodle drawing of the ideal person and all their attributes, and pinned it up in my office.

Then I took the following steps (not always in this nice, neat order!)

Did the inner work around letting go

This meant understanding that I would be giving away my baby. I’ve never had a baby, not even been pregnant, so that analogy was only a theoretical one for me, but it still felt very emotional.? I had to let go of my identity as my baby’s managing director; of who that made me be in terms of status, and of being able to say ‘I’m Jane Duncan Rogers of Before I Go Solutions’.? Now I was going to be just plain Jane Duncan Rogers.? That felt really weird when I practiced saying it! ? This step was crucial though, and letting go continued on throughout the whole year. I found journaling and digging deep about my reasons for what I was feeling at any one time very helpful. Not to mention my background in mindset, Louise L Hay’s work, and manifestation – they all came in to play at this time.?

Being kind to myself about there being no financial benefit for me

I’d deliberately set this organisation up as a community interest company with an asset lock, meaning the directors receive no financial benefit, and the company cannot be sold on. Was I really going to be okay with letting go of all I had created?? There was a lot of IP in the various products and programmes, most of which I had created in my own name.? Was I willing to licence this (meaning I had to be responsible for keeping it all updated), or could I let go of that too?? This took some thinking about, and another level of letting go too, as I realised I needed to move on from everything to make room for something else, what I didn’t yet know. Even reading this back now, I can touch on the scariness of that time, as I realised I would indeed be letting go of everything I had created (other than my own books).? There were many at this time who swore that I needed to keep my IP – but I didn’t want to be keeping this information up to date. It was that simple. If I wasn’t willing to do that, then I had to be willing to let it go.??

Being kind to myself as I dealt with doubts, negative thoughts and feelings

Of course I had these!? Everyone has – the trick is how much attention you give them. There were many nights when I was awake at 4am, worrying, and having to employ various techniques to calm down and return to my peaceful centre, so I could return to sleep once more. For instance, while I chose to trust that the right person would show up, just 5 months before I had said I was stepping down, there was still no-one in sight. That in itself caused quite a few thoughts to pop up, along the lines of ‘will I ever find someone with similar values?’; does the right person actually exist out there?, and ‘what will I do if no-one turns up in time?’ All of which had to be felt, acknowledged, let go of, and replaced with more positive statements and feelings to affirm what I was saying I wanted.? Trust and faith began to play a huge part at this stage.

Being willing to say no

This was important, because a couple of wonderful people showed interest in the first part of 2023. Despite the fact that they appeared to be a perfect fit, and we went quite far down the road with both of them, at the last hurdle, I had to acknowledge my feelings. How I do this is by knowing the difference between what I call a ‘full body yes’ and anything less than that. A full body yes is when not only does the decision feel right at an energetic level, it also feels right mentally, emotionally and practically. ? But saying No when the deadline is approaching and there is no-one in sight is, to put it mildly, scary!? That’s when having faith kicks in.

Having faith it would turn out okay

This meant not being attached to the outcome. Regardless of what I said I wanted (a new person to take on the role), it was only my ego that said this was the best thing that could happen. It could be there was an even better solution that I couldn’t think of.? This was more letting go – each time I worried about what might happen, I practiced ‘not knowing’ and trusting that Life itself would take care of the outcome. And that my job was simply to take care of myself within this; after all, how did I know that what I thought was the best outcome, really was the best outcome?? Life had already shown me that there are numerous times when my ego couldn’t imagine anything better than it had already imagined, and yet something else happened that in fact was better, much better.

Research from what others have done (or not!)

There’s lots of advice and research out there that says how best to exit a company, and I didn’t look at any of it until afterwards.? It never occurred to me to do that. The one thing I did do, was read Tom Nixon’s book ‘Working from Source’. More on that later.?

List the things that need to be done and by when

Of course there was a practical list of things that needed to be attended to.? Together the new team and I created a handover checklist, with who was responsible for what, and by when, and made sure all the necessary people had access to this. We met weekly to discuss this.?

Update the operations manual

It’s so easy to have an ops manual become outdated, especially in a small company.? Now, my advice is to keep it updated as you go along, of course. As it was, this was another task for me, to make it up to date for the point of handover. ?

Be clear about when to announce to others who will be affected

In our case that meant the Board, the rest of the team, our End of Life Plan Facilitators, some of our suppliers, our customers.? Each sector needed to be thought through and communicated with in such a way that the information could be received in a way that supported them, made them feel safe (relatively), and encouraged input from them (if necessary).

Have an end date for the official handover

Similar to a goal, this was to inform us moving forward and give us something to measure progress by. The date changed several times, and overshot my own target by a few weeks. But if a goal is used as a guide to progress, rather than an end in itself, then there’s no reason to think not meeting the original goal is a failure. So we considered ourselves very happy and successful when the official handover happened. And celebrated online with a glass of bubbly and much appreciation all round!

Agree how the outgoing CEO will continue to support the business going forward

That's if this is wanted, necessary or desirable. In my case, it was important to let all involved know that I wasn’t abandoning ship. In agreement with the rest of the Board, I decided to stay on as a director at least for the initial few months of the new CEO being in charge.? This may not be appropriate for every business. For this to be possible, I had to be unattached to whether or not I would be needed as a director at all. And am still having to be, as I continue to be a director for the time being.

Be aware that you yourself are the source of the business

The source of a business does not necessarily get handed over in the same timeframe as the physical handover. Reading Work With Source by Tom Nixon

was crucial in this area. I knew that even when we had got to the stage of the new CEO in charge, which was a few weeks after the official handover, I was still the source of this business. However, I took a holiday immediately after my last day at work, and during that time, I received the impulse to write a ‘Dear John’ letter to Before I Go Solutions?. Sitting by the swimming pool, under hot sun in Morocco, the words poured out of me. In that moment, I knew this was me handing over the source role, which is something you only know by feeling/sensing it.

Give space for miracles to enter

Don’t assume you will always know exactly what you will do next. Miracles need space to breathe into the situation. In our case, a major miracle happened in the way the new CEO arrived, a manner that would not have occurred to my thinking mind.

Acknowledge, appreciate and affirm all the steps along the way

Each is important for whatever reason, and therefore makes a contribution to the whole. None is necessarily more important than the other, even though it may appear that way.?

Finally, who took Before I Go Solutions? on? James Barrett, of MyGoodbyes.co.uk. He says:

"Taking over Before I Go Solutions?, in addition to my existing death-related company MyGoodbyes, was a big step for me. From the outset, it was clear that Jane and I had similar values and business goals. Having practical documents updated and a clear path to the handover was important to make this transition a success.?

But what has been even more beneficial was having Jane around to support me in the early months. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that, as the founder, Jane held the spirit of Before I Go Solutions? and has many insights and lessons (perhaps some learned the hard way) that are incredibly important to the company's ongoing success. Ensuring that this isn’t lost in the handover is crucial."

So there you have it. A very personal take on what actually goes on behind the scenes when letting go of a company started from scratch, into the supportive arms of the next caretaker.

And what am I doing now? Taking time out, and giving space to what wants to be birthed next. Meanwhile, I am investigating writing more, and have recently published 7 Steps to Thinking Rich, a short introduction to the kind of thinking that has upheld me all my life, and in business too. Find more here: https://www.janeduncanrogers.com/