A large percentage of affiliate marketers are either individuals or a couple of people working together to run their small marketing business. This is a great way to run a business, as it gives you a lot more control and allows you to really set your own work schedule. For most of us, our business isn’t just something we do for ourselves. Many of us have family that relies on us, or other obligations that need to be taken care of. Despite this fact, however, most people in this industry haven’t set up any sort of ‘business contingency plan’ for what needs to happen in the event that we die.
This may be something that many people don’t want to think about, but it is extremely important. Your business is almost entirely reliant on you for its ongoing success, so if you pass away (especially if it is unexpected) your business could fail almost overnight, leaving your family with nothing of value. Creating a plan of what you (and your family) want to happen to your business when you die is very important.
Know Your Options
When making your business continuity plan, you really have three major options. You need to know the details of each of these options, and discuss them with your loved ones to see which path they want to be set up. The options are:
- Pass On the Business – If your spouse or a child knows your business, you can simply pass it on to them and they can run it. Depending on their level of expertise, this could be difficult at first, but it is a possibility. To prepare for this option, you need to do what you can to help ensure they can hit the ground running as much as possible. Having all your account information, for example, is a great start. If you work with any third party vendors, virtually assistants or other people on a regular basis, make sure all their contact information is available. Putting all this information in a document and ensuring your heir knows where it stores will help the transition go more smoothly.
- Hire Someone to Take it Over – For established, successful businesses, it might be worth it to hire someone to take the business over while your loved ones still retain ownership. The person hired would essentially be an employee who gets a salary for running the business. In this option, it is important that the person brought in to run the business is already very familiar with it, and can take over with minimal down time. Ideally, this could be an existing employee who just moves into a leadership role.
- Sell the Business – In many cases, the best option will be to sell the business for a fair market value. Unlike traditional businesses, however, you can’t really just slap a for sale sign in the front yard. Having a list of potential buyers, or a trusted individual who can help your loved ones to sell the business for the right price is very important. If your loved ones don’t know the details of your business assets, they may sell it for significantly less than it is worth.
What about Small or Part Time Businesses
Setting up a contingency plan for large businesses is almost easier, because it is obviously going to be well worth the time. For many marketers, however, this is a part time business and they can’t afford to spend hundreds, or even thousands of dollars setting up their contingency plan. It is still essential to plan out what you want to happen to your business. Not only because it is financially important to your loved ones, but also as a courtesy to your existing clients and others who rely on your business.
Regardless of the size of your business, you still have the same general three options that are listed above. For smaller businesses, you may not have the resources to hire someone to run it for you, but you can have someone take over the business and get paid out of the profits, with a set percentage going back to your family.
No matter what type or size your business is, the worst thing you can do is ignore the possibility that you won’t be around to run it tomorrow. People die of unexpected health problems, car accidents, and many other things all the time. Don’t leave your business to die along with you. With some simple planning, you can make sure your business, and your loved ones, will be in the best position possible to keep going without you.