If you’re not asking these questions now, you will certainly be asking them later.

1. Why did you get into your business in the first place?
2. How has that changed?
3. How is leading your business different now than what you originally expected?
4. How easy or difficult has it been?
5. What do you continue to struggle with?
6. How is your marriage? Your relationships? Your health?
7. What does your dream exit look like?
8. What problems will your dream exit solve for you?
9. What will it be like the day after your exit?
10. What will you be doing one year after your exit? Five years? Ten?

What if…

What if you KNEW how other founders, post-exit, answer these questions?

What if you could ASK those founders anything you’d like?

A Special Event is Coming in September

On Tuesday September 17 at noon eastern, I will be moderating a panel of founders who have had and advised dozens of exits between them.

Would you like to make sure you get an invitation?

Respond “FOUNDER” below and I or someone on my team will send you the info and make sure you’re include.

And be sure to keep an eye on my posts between now and then—hit the bell to make sure you don’t miss any! I’ll be talking with lots of founders about all of these topics.

#founder #founders #exit

SPECIAL EVENT on July 9!

For most founders, acquisition of their company is the ultimate goal.

Whether for financial gain, outward accomplishment, or internal fulfillment, the dream of growth and exit is a powerful force.

But what is really on the other side of that dream?

Does an exit truly deliver what founders envision?

Is the journey worth the sacrifice?

Does it need to be so difficult?

Join us on Tuesday, July 9th, at 12 pm Eastern for After the Exit: Is There Happiness Beyond the Deal?

This panel discussion will feature successful serial entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals who serve founders before and after their exits.

This will be a unique opportunity to learn from those who have been to the other side and to get a real sense of what awaits.

You will hear directly from experts with hundreds of exits among them.

Join us if you want to:

⁃ Get a backstage pass to what life looks like after an exit.

⁃ Walk away with strategies for maximizing satisfaction.

⁃ Learn ways to navigate the emotional ups and downs of the process.

⁃ Explore the possibility of finding joy along the journey AND afterwards.

Live attendance is limited, with preference given to founders currently on the path to growth and exit, as well as those who have recently exited. A replay will be available for all.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain invaluable insights that will prepare you for a fulfilling journey during and after your exit.

Please comment “Otherside” below to receive the registration link via DM.

I’m looking forward to this great conversation.

#founder #founders #exit

I work with a lot of founders who think that a big check will fix everything.

But it’s simply not true.

Yes, the work of building a business is tough. And it is, in many ways, admirable.

But the idea that a big exit will make it all worthwhile is simply wrong.

Here are some key ways that I’ve seen founders let down by their exits.

You Feel Like You Got Screwed

The actual process of getting to the deal is hard. Compromises are made. Founders are getting more money than they have ever had, but have this nagging suspicion that they could have gotten more, and it haunts them.

You Don’t Know Your Family Anymore

Most founders lose themselves in the business. They do it because they love it, because it gives them rewards in a way that nothing else does.

The cost of this is their relationships.

Your kids don’t understand why you aren’t around, why you missed their recitals and games. And they probably blame themselves.

Your spouse doesn’t admire your sacrifice. Your spouse is angry at your absence.

Coming back to that, after years or even decades, is a stark reminder of all the difficult conversations you’ve been avoiding.

You Still Feel Like A Fraud

Almost every overachiever I work with has a deep desire to prove themselves, fueled by a deep suspicion that there is something wrong with them.

I struggled with this myself for the better part of four decades, and it still rears its ugly head from time to time. There was no title or amount of money that could make it go away.

The founder who gets the exit gets hit with this twice—first in thinking that they really don’t know what they are doing in the business, and second that they got a big check for their efforts and yet they “know” that they really don’t deserve it.

You’re Addicted To Stress

What do you do when you no longer own the business? You’ve been in firefighting mode for so long it’s hard to put the hose down.

After a week of golf you’re scratching your eyes out.

How do you learn to enjoy what you have created?

How do you learn to be comfortable again?

Can You Be Happy Now?

If you create a business that you love working with people you love, you won’t need an exit to fix you.

And, if you get an exit, you will actually enjoy it.

Are you interested in hearing more?

I’m moderating an invitation-only event for founders on July 9 at noon eastern time. If you’re a founder who’s within two years of an exit, you won’t want to miss it.

The Art of the Exit: Is There Happiness Beyond the Deal?

If you have a sneaking suspicion a big exit won’t fix everything in your life, comment “Invite, please” below or send me a DM for a personal invitation to this event.

A distinguished panel of founders with multiple exits and others who have advised founders through exits will share their observations and learning.

It’s guaranteed to be thought-provoking and to give you ideas you can put into action today.

You don’t have to go through the exit letdown. In fact, you might even start getting what you have been looking for BEFORE the exit.

I look forward to hearing from you.

I’m going to take a break from writing about founders this week because I want to address a New York Times article that talks about some of the absurd promises that some life coaching training programs make.

(Don’t worry, there is also some guidance for founders who are looking for coaches in the paragraphs below.)

This past Sunday the New York Times ran an article entitled, “They Spent Their Life Savings on Life Coaching.”

The article focuses on a number of unnamed, “credible” coaching schools that apparently promise people they will get “everything they need to make their first $100,000” in exchange for tuition payments that were thousands of dollars. In one case, someone pulled $18,000 out of her 401(k) to pay to enroll in such a program. The participants said they were victims and repeatedly pressured to spend money they didn’t have.

Is this true? Is “life coaching,” or at least certification for life coaching, a pyramid scheme in which people are bullied to pay money and told that “to be a coach, you have to have a coach?”

Absolutely.

Coaching has grown exponentially in its prevalence and impact. As coaching has grown, there has come with it an underbelly that is shady and manipulative.

(Like much of the online world.)

I’ve been a full time coach for eight years and I have seen, over and over again, people make inappropriately aggressive promises of quick riches in the coaching world. It’s only gotten worse.

People are told that if only they sign up for the right program or build the right sales funnel or use the right paid ads approach they can easily make it as a life coach.

Even if they have had no prior career success.

I can assure you that making a full time living as a coach is not easy and you will certainly not learn what you need in a weekend course.

Or even a course that takes months or years.

And you certainly will not make it with Facebook ads or sales funnels (though those can be helpful later).

It takes sustained effort and deep personal work to become an effective coach.

Building a sustainable coaching business will test you. It will be uncomfortable.

But you CAN do it if you are willing to put in the time.

While there are people who will make unrealistic promises, for the most part they are easily avoided.

This article will show you some of the red flags.

There Is No Short Cut

I had a twenty-seven year corporate career before I went out on my own as I coach. I had managed people, teams, and multi-million dollar client relationships for decades. I also had a twenty-plus year meditation practice and had closely studied with multiple teachers.

It still took me years to build my business, and even after eight years of full time coaching I continue to grow.

Needless to say, most people who enter coaching don’t have that background. Frankly, most trainers of coaches don’t have that background, either.

If someone says you don’t need that kind of work or background if only you take their shortcut, avoid them.

You Have To Be Willing To Fail

You will not enroll coaching clients easily at first. You can imitate the people you see on social media, but people will see through that. Most critically, YOU will not be confident doing it and people will pick up on that very quickly. As much experience as I had before I started coaching, it took me a couple years before I was comfortable enrolling clients and it is a skill that I believe can never be fully mastered.

And that’s before you actually coach anyone.

At this point I have had thousands of coaching and enrollment conversations. I have been working with some people for years, through several career and life shifts. I still feel like a beginner a lot of the time.

If you’re not willing to feel new and uncomfortable for a long time, you might want to consider something else.

If someone tells you that they can do the hard parts of building a coaching business for you, avoid them.

Building a coaching business IS the hard part.

You Will Probably Not Be More Successful Than Your Previous Employment

Don’t think that coaching will somehow rocket you past your prior work experience.

The people who are most successful as coaches didn’t leave unsuccessful careers. With very few exceptions, they were already successful when they decided to become coaches. Some have decades of previous experience.

If someone tells you prior experience is not necessary or relevant for coaching “riches,” avoid them.

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…

It is. There are plenty of credible people in this field who are actually helping coaches succeed. Every one of them says that becoming a coach takes time and is a lot of hard work.

That said, if you’re willing to do the work, coaching is an amazing occupation that I continue to love and recommend. And if you reach out to me I can tell you about a LOT of resources, much of them free or very low cost, that can help. (People who immediately come to mind as excellent in this field include Rich Litvin, Steve Chandler, Carolyn Freyer-Jones, Townsend Wardlaw, Michael Neill, and John Patrick Morgan.)

I’m happy to share my personal experiences, pro and con, along the way.

How Not To Hire A Fly-By-Night Life Coach

For those of you who are looking for a coach and are now scared that you’ll get taken by a coach who really isn’t qualified, I have good news.

You’ll be able to smell most of these folks a mile away. Their insecurity and neediness will be readily apparent.

But just in case…

Make sure you’ve had the experience of being coached.I work with most people for a year or more and I make sure we both have an experience of working with each other before I am willing to commit. I want them to feel the same way. They are going to share things with me that most of them don’t even tell their spouses.

Just as clients worry about coaches, good coaches worry about clients who won’t do the work. Good coaches are auditioning you just as you are auditioning them.

Get a referral from someone you trust. Many of my clients come through referral. While a client might look at what I post on social media, they generally do so AFTER they’ve heard about me from someone they trust.

Ask about other clients. It’s perfectly appropriate to ask about other clients.

Don’t shop based on price. A high fee or a low fee may be totally independent of how good a coach is. Looking for the cheapest coach is generally not recommended. That said, the most expensive coach may not be the best one for you either, depending on what you are looking for.

Make sure the coach is good at what you actually need. I had a client decide to try a different program than mine. The program was shorter and cheaper than what I was suggesting, but it wasn’t really addressing what the client needed. Because of that, the client is now going to have to pay for my coaching, too. Solving the issue once is almost always cheaper than trying to solve it multiple times. That said, most people try a lot of things before they settle on a coach. I even use “What else have you tried?” as a barometer to assess if they are ready for coaching with me. A credible coach will be honest with you if they don’t feel like you are a good fit.

Does This Resonate?

I’ve put together a video on how to hire a coach that goes into these issues in a bit more detail. Drop a comment or send a message and I will be happy to send it along.

Whether you’re a coach or a founder looking for a coach, f you want to explore topics like this in more depth, you’re not alone.

More and more people like you are coming out of the spiritual closet and seeing their work, and what they want to create, as a vital personal journey to both abundance and meaning. To the joy of feeling alive and “on purpose.”

This is what I write about. For founders, for original thinkers, no matter where they are in their transformation.

The world needs YOU, in all your brilliance and imperfection.

If you are a founder wanting to scale and sell your company, there are three shifts in identity that can help you do so with twice the impact and half the stress. Take a look at this video.

You can subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

You can follow me on LinkedIn to make sure you never miss a post by hitting the bell on my profile.