The Real Reason I Sold My Business
It might not be what you think...
Happy Monday! How was your weekend? We stopped by a gluten-free brewery and ate the most amazing gluten-free soft pretzels. I’ll miss those when we move. They taste exactly like non-gf ones. With the crunchy salt on top and honey mustard dipping sauce. Mmmm… I have a couple in the freezer right now because they sell them frozen too and I just couldn’t help myself.
Enough about my food proclivities though. What I want to share with you is the real reason I sold my business, Dollop Gourmet.
It’s come to my attention that not everyone reading this newsletter is aware that I am no longer the owner of Dollop Gourmet. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, please revisit my first newsletter here.
Hard to believe it’s been nearly two years since I sold Dollop to a Canadian icing manufacturer in Brampton, ON. The first year, 2019, I celebrated. I was filled with such excitement and relief. I told myself I would take some time to relax and recharge after having worked basically nonstop for a decade. 2019 sped by fast.
Then came 2020. And well that was basically a wash, wasn’t it? I don’t know where the year went but I feel like I accomplished just about nothing. No sourdough was baked, no successful businesses were created, no puppies were adopted. I don’t know what I did with my time. What did you do with yours? Likely more than I did with mine.
And now here we are quickly speeding into the second quarter of 2021.
(Let me stop myself before I get carried away on a magic carpet of rants.)
Why did I sell my business? That’s the question I’m addressing here.
The real reason why? Because there’s really no sense in playing make believe.
I was burnt out. Not coincidentally, this is the number one reason I hear from people as to why they want to sell their businesses. Burnout is common and it’s rough.
I had had enough. I was ready to move on. I was having co-packer issues, supply issues, customer issues, and I was tired of dealing with it all. I wasn’t excited anymore and I was no longer passionate about my work.
This wasn’t like the time when I closed my bakery in Rochester, NY to launch a packaged frosting line. That was a pivot. And that felt entirely different than this. I actually have a great presentation about the difference between pivoting and exiting and how to know which is right for you (if you need a public speaker on the topic, call me).
But no, this time I was ready to exit. I was done with selling frosting. I was ready to move on. Close one door and open another.
I had no idea what that meant for me but I knew I needed to take the leap to find out.
And to be honest? That leap has been much bigger than I anticipated. But that’s another story for another time.
Have you ever felt burnout? What did you do?
Till next time!
Heather