5 Signs It’s Time to Exit the Entrepreneurial Highway

For the last 10 years, EasySeat has been on an expressway of growth, culminating last year in a fifth consecutive Inc 5000 and a spot on the Inc Honor Roll. The Honor Roll recognizes companies that have made the Inc 500|5000 for 5 or more years. 2015 would have been a sixth consecutive year, but I sold the company this month.  Despite moving forward at the same breakneck speed, I decided to take an exit. Making this sort of move regardless of growth and profitability can be discordant. So, why sell a growing, profitable business? The signs said exit here.

The 5, not always obvious, indicators that it might be time to sell:

1. Your team is a cost center, not the driver of your business – A great staff, especially in a service industry, is the lifeblood of a business. Their salaries, bonuses, and even the cost of the tools and supplies to do their job is what keeps customers coming back and the business running smoothly. Investments in people are investments in growth. If people are just a cost of doing business, there is something going awry.
2. Customers become a transaction, not a relationship – Employees are the engine, and customers are the fuel of a business and, like fuel, are an expendable resource that must be replenished. The core question to answer on a daily basis is “how to we deliver the best possible experience to this customer.” Answer that question properly, and customers keep coming back. If that is being replaced with, “how much am I making off this person,” you’re beginning to lose sight of how to build long term value that keeps customers coming back.
3. Money is the only indicator of success – For most entrepreneurs, money is a secondary pursuit, typically behind purpose or passion. Build a business around those ideals, and the money will likely follow. A great example is Zappos who turned building a strong corporate culture, a pursuit without a direct causal link to growth, into the basis of a profitable business.
4. It’s just a job – When building a brand or a better customer experience or a better place to work takes a back seat to the profitability of each transaction, it’s just a paycheck, not a lifetime endeavor. Entrepreneurs get out of bed in the morning because they are passionate about their industry, their customers, or their people. When you lose that motivation, you cease to truly be an entrepreneur; you are simply an employee in a job of your own creation.
5. A 5 year plan does not include you – Every industry undergoes change, and the ticket industry is no exception. Part of the excitement and challenge of being an entrepreneur is recognizing trends and devising strategies to capitalize on new opportunities and minimize challenges. If rising to the challenges of the next year, five years, or even two months seems like a chore instead of a challenge, then it might just be time to move on.

These signs didn’t suddenly appear for me one day when I got to work. At the time I began the process of seeking a buyer, I just knew something didn’t feel right. Only as it became more exciting to think about getting out than staying in the business did these “symptoms” start to become more apparent. Whether profitable or not, growing or stagnant, if you see any of these signs in your own business, it might just be time to make your exit from the entrepreneurial highway.