The Silver Tsunami Is Coming for Business Owners. Here's How to Not Get Caught Out.
There's a wave building in Australian business, and most owners have no idea it's coming for them.
It's called the "silver tsunami": a huge number of baby boomer business owners heading toward retirement at the same time. Based on ABS data reported by ASBFEO, more than one in five business owners here are over 60. Over the next couple of decades, an estimated $3.5 trillion in wealth is set to change hands as that generation sells down and steps back according to AMP research.
Inside Small Business covered it well, and it's worth a read if you haven't seen it.
Here's the bit that stuck with me though. This isn't only a story about people retiring. It's a filter for every business owner still building, whether you're planning to sell in five years or you're nowhere near ready to think about it.
Buyers aren't paying for what your business made last year. They're paying for what it can keep making without you standing in the middle of it. If the business only runs because you remember to chase things up, or because it's all in your head, or your team's heads, that's not an asset. That's risk, and buyers price risk down.
So what do you actually do about it?
Start by writing down the one process that would cause the most damage if you disappeared for a month. Not everything, just that one thing. Then get it out of your head and into a system that runs the same way every time, whether you're there or not.
That's the whole idea behind Umbrella Systems. We take what's currently living in your inbox, your memory and your team's habits, and turn it into documented, automated workflows built on GoHighLevel. Onboarding, follow-up, delivery, reporting, the stuff you'd normally have to be there for, gets built so it runs without you holding it together.
You don't need to systemise the whole business this month. You need to start.
If you want to talk through where your business is most dependent on you, that's exactly what a virtual coffee is for.
