Have you ever wondered how your business compares to that of your peers? The most recent data from The Value Builder System™ presents an interesting look into the current value of privately held businesses as it relates to their age.
In the study, How an Owner’s Age Impacts Their Attitudes Towards Exit, business owners were profiled in four generational groups:
- Millennials (owner born between 1981 – 1996)
- Generation X (owner born between 1965 – 1980)
- Baby Boomers (owner born between 1946 – 1964)
- Silent Generation (owner born between 1928 – 1945)
Age and Attitude Toward An Exit
Below are some of the highlights from the Value Builder Systems report:
Millennials are running younger companies but staying in the race longer.
Millennial business owners were 3 times more likely to have started their business after 2014. Of the business owners surveyed, nearly one-third (29.7%) say they don’t expect to exit their company for at least 10 years.
“Wealthy” defined differently across the generations.
When asked for a definition of “wealthy,” 21% of Millennials said that $10 million makes you rich, compared to just 14.8% of all owners, who were more inclined to say that “having enough money to cover your lifestyle expenses” or being able to do “whatever, whenever you want to” was their definition of wealth.
Boomers focused on maximizing profits.
When it comes to their goals for the year ahead, respondents were given a choice between growing their top line, growing their bottom line, or mastering their craft. Boomers were more likely to say their main goal was maximizing their bottom-line profits.
Silent Generation is less likely to be owner dependent.
Of the 35,000 business owners analyzed, 28.6% of the Silent Generation were more likely to say their business “would hardly suffer at all, and would survive a 3-month absence of the owner.” In comparison, only 17.9% of the other generations agreed with this. Silent generation is also twice as likely (18% vs. 9%) to be planning to exit their business within the next two years.
Conclusion
Overall, the data indicates that the one common denominator among all business owners – regardless of their age, is that they are thinking about their exit, whether in two years or over the next 10. Are you?
Are you thinking about your next steps?
Whether you’re planning to transition out of your business in the next year or decade, it’s recommended you do everything possible to maximize the sale by focusing on the eight key drivers of business value. This is the beauty of the Value Builder System and why I became a certified Value Builder System Coach.
Do you want to improve the value of your business?
I use this proven system to help business owners understand and improve the Value of their business. This 15-minute assessment provides a report that allows you to see the current value of your business, and where you can focus your limited resources to add the most value. Contact me for more information and I’ll provide you with a link to take the Value Builder Assessment.
Robert Hunt
Ask me for a copy of this report at RobertH@REFdallas.com.