Going Through Important Transition, Hard to Wind Down my first Business

I hope these open blog posts help others get the courage to face themselves. I think it is one of the hardest things I have done, is to learn about who I truly am – accepting my weaknesses.

Photo in today’s blog is my rather lower emotional photo….taken tonight at a local Chinese BBQ stand. I am trying my best to deal with the stress of closing a company. Telling customers and suppliers you are no longer operating it.

As I have already publicly blogged, i’m closing my first business… I have already re-incorporated it 3 times, from a NY general partnership to a NJ S corp, to a C corp, and then rolled it into a Florida corp I already had existing.

OPENING A company is easy! And yet that is where all this focus on startups is. Opening a company, registering, etc etc. MAN!!! Winding down a company is HARD!! Like what Steve Forte just went through exiting a startup, I was keen on this topic not just for selling a company, but closing it. And he did cover the idea of ASSET based sale versus a SHARE based sale of a company. The buyer will always want to do an ASSET based sale, because the new buyer just picks the good stuff from a company, leaving the liabilities and other risks to the current owners to deal with. Steve explained some issues he had when he did his first sale, and it was asset. He explained how you can sell a company’s assets, and be left with employee contracts to close, office leases, and other debts that the new buyer doesn’t have to deal with.

And governments really start to audit your books once you try to close. As its their last chance to check for any unpaid taxes or liabilities you may have had. And letters from government offices are never welcoming and friendly.

I’m going through those annoying parts of closing a company. Its part of business 101. Hearing your regular customers complain about it, suppliers worrying about you paying your outstanding bills. Debts to pay off, credit card, bank accounts, merchant accounts.

Its sloppy, sensitive, and is making me a bit emotional.

I’ve been proud of myself for dealing with it in such a calm matter. I think maybe being in China over the past 5 years has helped me deal with stress better. As its so insane here day in and day out – so many people, so much action. That dealing with a company dissolution is not so hard.

Its all part of the process. To learn, to grow. This is my MBA (see my blog post from November 2007 –> Who needs an MBA EXPERIENCE! Like I had asked for so many years ago. Its fun for me to read back on this blog. It has helped me grow. People know me better too. My dad and mom don’t ask so many questions, the blog gives a good summary. Strangers understand me better…which is a bit strange, but I believe then they know what I can offer, what my experiences are, and connect with me.

So here we go, out with the bad, and on to focus and new adventures.

Newest venture will be posted soon. Tweeted some sneak previews….for those on twitter.

Stay tuned.