Navigating a Recession

Immediate Steps for Scaling and Preparing a Business for a Profitable Exit

- Michelle Seiler Tucker

I have spent over 20 years in the trenches specializing in buying, selling, fixing and growing businesses. When writing my first book in 2013, Sell Your Business for More Than Its Worth, I learned that 85-95% of all startups from 1-5 years are at great risk for going out of business, which is pretty common knowledge. However, when I wrote Exit Rich in 2019 and did the same research, I was flabbergasted at how drastically the business landscape had changed. Now, only 30% of startups will go out of business in the first 5 years. However, out of 27.6 million businesses, 70% will go out of business after being in business 10 years or longer.

You hear about the big box public companies, such as Kmart, JCPenney, Steinmart, etc. But what you don’t hear about are the small private businesses that are dropping like flies on every street, in every town, and in every state across our great nation. Many of these owners are baby boomers and are having to sell their business for pennies on the dollar, close their doors, or, even worse, file bankruptcy. Many of these owners will not only lose their business assets, but family assets as well as they commingle the two. These are sad and startling statistics that baby boomers are facing, as they have made huge sacrifices along the way to grow and maintain their business.

Small business is the backbone of the US economy. If we don’t save small businesses, we would lose numerous jobs, causing spending power to decrease dramatically which could push us into a recession. However, it doesn’t have to be all negative news as there are more buyers for good businesses than there are good businesses to buy.