Do you have an “exit plan” for your business?

I would plan on leaving it to the next generation. I have a daughter named Emma who is seven, and she has shown every single sign of having really great taste and loving the business. She's already told me she wants to go to markets with me. She wants to go now, but I'm afraid to take her to market yet; when I go to market, I'm hitting it so hard and have so much to do, I know she wouldn't be able to hold up. But when she gets to her early teens I'll take her with me. I think it would be a really great thing for her. She's just like her mom, she loves all things beautiful, clothing, decorative accessories, it doesn't matter. But I'm not planning on retiring any time soon. We're doing so well and we bought the building we're located in. It becomes a much longer term investment when you do that; you don't just leave when the lease is up. We're in it for the long haul.

Plan A: To be holding the bazillion dollar PowerBall ticket. Plan B: To be cashing a bazillion dollar check from someone buying the store. When the time comes for me to shift gears, it will likely be due to the right combination of timing, life circumstance and a new career option. With those three stars properly aligned, the preferred option would be to find a new owner eager to take tender loving care of our wonderful customers. The idea of selling to someone who didn't treat them well would break my heart. As crazy as it sounds, I would voluntarily close before handing the keys to someone who was just out to buy any old business, making it a celebration of years well spent, as opposed to a funeral march. Still...whadaya say we just go with the PowerBall option and call it a day?

Exit strategy is something we don't really think about, but should. Exiting by choice is the best scenario. A struggling business, loss of lease or illness are the reasons that bring about stress. The majority of gift stores don't have an exit strategy, they simply close up shop. My flagship store in San Jose, California Stationers, was one of these. In 2001 a very successful 20-year-old-business had to be liquidated because the shopping center was torn down and no suitable location was available for three years. I lost a going concern and any marketable goodwill, closed it down, and moved to Rhode Island —a time to re-energize which I call now a blessing in disguise. Exit strategies for Imagine would be much easier. I never again wanted to be vulnerable to a landlord's actions, so I purchased the building. I enjoy the gift industry immensely, and never plan to totally retire. With grown children successful in their careers and not interested in the business, the most likely scenario would be to sell the assets and name and lease the building. But to do that, the business must be profitable, with name recognition.