Twin Cities Business, Personal Finance, December
2007, By Jeff Dekko
Mike Felmlee was in a delicate position: New
CEO for the Prouty Project, a 10-person Minneapolis-based
strategic planning and consulting firm. The
time: August, 2005.
Jeff Prouty, the firm’s dynamic founder, had
some news to share: He had decided to take a
four-month sabbatical.
Uncertainty reigned: What would happen when
the guy whose name was – and still is – on the
door stepped away from the business, even temporarily?
Would anybody listen to Felmlee? Would business
walk out the door? And what would happen when
the founder came back?
“One thing I’ve learned over the years is that
if you have to choose between fear and anxiety,
choose fear,” Felmlee says. Why? Because fear
can be addressed far more directly than anxiety.
Fears can be quantified. Fears can be conquered.
Felmlee spoke recently to an intriguing gathering
of small business owners, service providers
and others sponsored by The Platinum Group,
an Eden Prairie-based management and investment
firm that among other things, helps companies
cope with such transitions as the sale of businesses,
succession planning and, yes, sabbaticals for
the owner. I’m familiar with Platinum because
I worked there prior to joining Wealth Enhancement
Group.
“With Baby Boomers now heading into their early
60s, many small business owners are stepping
back and asking ‘What’s next in my life? What’s
next for me as a business owner?’” said Steve
Coleman, the Platinum Group partner who heads
up the firm’s sabbatical related efforts. “A
sabbatical is an opportunity for a business
owner to put his head up, look around, gain
some perspective.”
The people at the Prouty Project, recalled
Felmlee, “got together and asked, ‘What are
our fears?’ Then we asked what were our roles
and responsibilities going to be.”
A key step in that process was asking Prouty,
the firm’s majority owner, what they couldn’t
do. They were surprised, he said, when Prouty
came back with only two things: You can’t change
the name of the firm and you can’t fire our
banker. Everything else was fair game.
From there, the group decided on how they’d
split up the various roles and responsibilities
and how they’d make the transition to a Prouty-less
firm. One of the first iniatives: A “hug our
customer” campaign. All 80 of them. It worked,
and the consultants were able to lock down a
significant amount of business, particularly
for the critical third quarter, the company’s
busiest time. And all that took place before
Prouty left for his sabbatical.
“That’s when we knew we were going to be okay,”
says Felmlee, “That gave us a lot of confidence.”
Nine months into the year, when Prouty returned,
business was up 20 percent for the comparable
period. But the team was concerned: The founder
was coming back. Now what? They all met, describing
“the good, the bad and the ugly” to the founder,
welcoming him back to the business.
An important point, however symboloic: Prouty
moved into a new, separate office away from
Felmlee. Considerably more important: the firm
had done okay in his absence – prospered even,
and since then, Prouty has felt free to take
several more “mini-vacations,” knowing he can
take a leave from the business and everything
will be fine.
Thinking of doing the same?
The Platinum Group’s Coleman has some tips,
presented as a 10-question yes-no survey. The
first three are deal-breakers. “If you can’t
answer yes to these questions,” he says, “you
aren’t ready.”
1. Is the business stable, with consistent
year-to-year revenue growth?
2. Will you be able to continue to receive your
necessary level of income while you’re away?
3. And do you have the necessary bench strength
– managers whom you trust and who can lead the
business – in your absence?
Then ask yourself how chained to your desk
you’ve been. How many years have you taken a
vacation of two weeks or more? For most business
owners, the answer is probably none. Do you
have regular family or friend time – daily?
Weekly? Are you getting regular exercise? How’s
your weight? Your diet?
Time away can do wonders to recharge your batteries
– trigger new business ideas, get you thinking
about outside pursuits, such as giving back
to the community, give your managers a chance
to spread their wings.
And according to Coleman, more often than not,
your business will do better when you’re away.
And you’ll come back more of an owner than a
manager.
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