Navigating the Future with Health and Wealth

The Parallels Between Health Screenings and Business Evaluations

In an era where preventive measures are lauded as the lynchpins of longevity and well-being, there’s a striking dichotomy in how individuals approach their health versus their businesses. Health checks, such as those advocated by organisations like BUPA in the UK, have become milestones in the roadmap to a healthy future, especially as one approaches the age of 55. These comprehensive screenings are valuable for several reasons, most notably in their ability to detect potential health issues before they become serious, allowing for preventive care or early treatment. It’s a proactive measure that mitigates risk and is indicative of prudent, forward-thinking self-management.

However, when it comes to their businesses, many owners exhibit contrasting behaviour, often neglecting the necessity to prepare their ventures for eventual sale or succession. The parallel between a BUPA health check and a thorough business evaluation is strong and yet seemingly overlooked by those at the helm of commerce.

The Value of Health Checks: A Closer Look

Health checks provide a multi-faceted picture of one’s current state of health, offering insights that range from cardiovascular fitness to potential hereditary conditions. The benefits are manifold:

1. Early Detection: Health screenings can identify diseases in their nascent stages, where they are often more manageable and less costly to treat.
2. Personalised Advice: Results lead to tailored advice on lifestyle adjustments to improve and maintain health.
3. Risk Management: Understanding one’s health risks allows for informed decision-making and strategic planning for the future.
4. Peace of Mind: Knowing that you have taken steps to understand your health can alleviate worry and encourage a more focused approach to life.

The Critical Need for Business Health Checks

Similarly, a ‘health check’ for a business can yield significant insights into its operational fitness, market position, and financial health. Like its medical counterpart, a business health check is not merely an evaluation but a strategic tool for growth and sustainability.

1. Business Valuation: Much like a diagnostic tool, it provides a clear picture of the business’s value, which is essential for any future sale, investment, or succession planning.
2. Identifying Weaknesses: It highlights operational inefficiencies, market vulnerabilities, and financial issues that could undermine the business’s long-term viability.
3. Strategic Planning: The insights gathered pave the way for robust strategic planning, allowing owners to address issues proactively rather than reactively.
4. Enhancing Business Attractiveness: A well-maintained, transparent business is more attractive to potential buyers, ensuring a smoother transition when the time for sale comes.

The Life Compromise: Stress, Income, and Poor Management

Owning a business that’s not primed for sale or does not provide the right income is not merely an oversight; it’s a compromise that can lead to a stressful lifestyle and, potentially, poor health. It is a paradox where one’s physical health may be catered to meticulously, while their financial health – embodied by their business – is left to fend for itself against the vagaries of time and market dynamics.

This juxtaposition is akin to diligently watering a garden while neglecting the fence that secures it. Both aspects demand equal attention to ensure not just survival but thriving vitality. The lack of preparedness for a business sale is a critical lapse in business management, as it can result in diminished returns and increased stress, undoing the benefits accrued from diligent health management.

In Summary

A holistic approach to life and work necessitates that one does not just get old healthily, but also ensures that their business does too. It’s not just a matter of income; it’s about legacy, continuity, and the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your business – much like your body – is prepared for the future, come what may. It is high time that business owners apply the same principles of preventive health to the enterprises they have painstakingly built, ensuring that they can reap the rewards of their labour both in wealth and well-being.

In closing, one might consider business health checks as the BUPA screenings for commercial longevity. They are not just diagnostic tools but blueprints for a future where health and wealth are not mutually exclusive but are interwoven threads in the fabric of a well-lived life.

Kevin Harrington

Partner

Having worked in technology, telecoms, consumer electronics, payments, media and publishing, Kevin has enjoyed an interesting career history that embraces product and services businesses at all stages of their journey.

Before joining Succession Plus he was CMO with The Panoply plc, a digitally native technology services company, founded in 2016, with the aim of identifying and acquiring best-of-breed specialist information technology and innovation consulting businesses. He joined The Panoply from Tungsten Network where he was Chief Commercial Officer.

Previous roles have included working with SMEs and large international businesses. Some highlights are Managing Director at the Emerging Payments Awards and the Prepaid Awards; Managing Director of Gx; Director of Sodexo Motivation Solutions; Global Marketing Director at BBC Worldwide; Product Group Marketing Manager with Sony UK.

His career started out in a completely different direction. His first two full-time roles were as a junior in an architect’s office and a civil engineering technician. Some of his drawings and designs were constructed and are still standing.