A Merger Might Just Save You From That Heart Attack
It seems that these days, you can’t open a business newspaper without reading that another company has become a “victim of the economic downturn”. But becoming a victim in the newspaper writer’s eyes might not mean that they have gone out of business; it might mean they have been acquired by a healthier outfit or merged with another firm to make one strong entity which will survive, and more to the point so will the person who owns it.
As a business owner with a smallish company that has done more than survive during the good times, you’ve probably had a good standard of living without getting rich. You’ve probably also provided a decent living for 3 or 4 other people into the bargain and kept a healthy number of clients satisfied with the personal level of service a smaller company can provide.
Now however, as the worst economic crisis any of us can remember takes hold, you may be waking up more stressed than you would like. You may even already be showing the signs of stress related illnesses.
How will you pay the wages this month as your customers delay payment as long as possible and your suppliers squeeze you for money? How will you fill the order books when nobody wants to spend, even if they have cash? Are your customers going to be able to pay you the money they already owe before they go out of business?
Many people are suddenly deciding that running their own business is just too much when the rewards are not that great, but that running for the hills isn’t an option either as they would leave too much carnage in lost jobs and dissatisfied customers.
An option some smart owners have found is to seek out companies in their own business or a related business area and look to make a merger deal that protects themselves, their staff, and their customers. It could be a larger company that can better stand the trials of a recession, or it could be one that has a stronger client base or portfolio of products.
Finding that company is as easy as picking up the phone or looking in the business directories on the internet. One phone call and a couple of meetings and you can suddenly sleep at night again.
The kind of deal you are looking for is one where your customers are well looked after so that you can comfortably look them in the face when you next bump into them, your staff are absorbed into the new company seamlessly and probably with a more exciting and secure future, and you can continue to receive a decent amount of money each month to help with the transition. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to carry on getting paid for 6 months or a year or even longer, just by being cooperative and working with the new bosses to make things go smoothly. You will probably not even have to work full time, leaving you free to figure out the next step in your own life.
More importantly than any other consideration, you will avoid the ill-health that inevitably comes with worrying about those things over which you have little or no control.
