14 years ago my husband Steve and I
bought a business it’s Shah and Tennie
the second oldest manufacturer of marine
products in the United States 158 years
old we make wooden oars and paddles and
masts and flag poles and they’re
gorgeous and then they hide in plain
sight all around the world in boat yards
and marinas and camps our flag poles
were in the movie Lincoln our oars are
in the gondola boats at the Venetian
Casino hiding in plain sight so where we
were that we were the average age of
people who start or buy a business and
as you can imagine the discussion starts
with our work experience what do we know
what skills do we have we were
definitely naive and I know that helped
a lot but it’s such a special company it
had good bones and a great reputation
but it was frayed at the edges its owner
Paul was in his 70s and he had owned the
business for more than 30 years he
needed to sell it in order to retire but
he hadn’t thought about that hadn’t
planned to couldn’t picture life beyond
owning the business and he said to us I
didn’t have an exit strategy I had a
heart attack well he did not sugarcoat
that one bit but we thought that kind of
admission was unique to him but it’s not
in surveys many business owners will say
that not only is the business their job
but it’s also their retirement plan so
they will need to sell it in order to
retire and that is about seven years
later than a typical employees
retirement if they can even find a buyer
the owner will likely have to finance a
portion of the sale so this perfect
storm is called income and wealth
vulnerability translation all your eggs
are in one basket so I named this
unnamed group and tripping or aging
business owners who are near the end of
their association with their business
there are a lot of us and we hide in
plain sight to 10,000 baby boomers
turned 65 every day in the United States
at 51%
of all small privately held businesses
are owned by someone over the age of 50
and that age is getting older too
since younger people aren’t starting
businesses in the numbers that they used
to
due to the burdens of student loan debt
so in my research I have found that the
enterpreneurship the unchartered waters
can result in some of the riskiest times
in a business owners life and like many
people you might have assumed the
Entrepreneurship was more risky right
the early days yeah that’s a very risky
time we all know those odds of success
are low but if there’s time to recover
from an early failure or to make a
course correction it probably isn’t the
riskiest and on the way to making that
first sale startups do get a lot of
resources and attention including
workshops accelerators and sometimes
even and advisers and investors who want
to get in early here’s what Paul knew
that going into business at something
you’re good at isn’t that hard but
getting out hole 30 years later is hard
for many business owners retirement will
be their one and only exit from the
business and they’re not sure how or
when to do that so without an obvious
successor then more risk will come
closer to the last sale when you’re more
likely to be alone out of time and
uninteresting in a country that loves it
startups what an opportunity though hmm
for communities to engage in discussions
about business transition and I’m
involving all of you oh yeah we’re
rowing together because you either know
a pole you work for a pole or maybe you
are Paul and you know it’s different if
an employee wants to test out retirement
they can work part-time or seasonally in
a bridge job it’s really popular for
retirees and it’s a win for companies
too but it’s different for the owner
they can’t count on ramping down like
that so I’d like to see entrepreneurs
talking earlier about exiting their
business while there’s time for
decisions and advice that can add value
I know I know it’s kind of icky it’s
like asking the newly married couple
wins the divorce and that’s rude that’s
rude but this is a commitment for better
or for worse entrepreneurship is small
business strategy and retirement
planning small firm finance and personal
financial literacy all of that can be
taught and learned what’s not taught
what is learned business owners
mortality the power of their attachment
to the company and their identity that
comes from it Steve and I love the
business but we ask and he works there
but we ask how long can you do this
Steve and we think we have a plan but we
sure do understand how Paul didn’t so
the European Union is starting to get
their heads around this issue they
believe that the economy the communities
business owners and employees are all
better off if conversations like these
happen early and not under duress they
honor the attachment that the business
owner has to the business with a
transition that involves a bridge job
freedom from having to finance the sale
sometimes they ramp up the new owner
yeah but all those eggs in two different
baskets and that’s a level of attention
expertise excitement and respect that
startups get that’s a big idea for small
business the United States isn’t having
conversations like this yet yet hmm I
wonder what we can do here in Rhode
Island where 96% of business is small
and population is aging rapidly or what
if we don’t talk about it
so Paul lived across the street from the
factory and he became a friend and the
master martini maker on Fridays at 5:01
shake shake shake shake shake shake
shake shake he’d come across the street
and the shop dog would wag her tail and
bark a happy greeting hmm we all bark –
happy greeting he always made a toast
sometimes just to Friday so his health
declined and he passed away about seven
years ago but he would have loved this
conversation and he had learned a thing
or two about unchartered waters before
we leave the shore
he’d christen this boat and of course of
course he’d have a toast to the
intrapreneur thank you
[Applause]
you
bought a business it’s Shah and Tennie
the second oldest manufacturer of marine
products in the United States 158 years
old we make wooden oars and paddles and
masts and flag poles and they’re
gorgeous and then they hide in plain
sight all around the world in boat yards
and marinas and camps our flag poles
were in the movie Lincoln our oars are
in the gondola boats at the Venetian
Casino hiding in plain sight so where we
were that we were the average age of
people who start or buy a business and
as you can imagine the discussion starts
with our work experience what do we know
what skills do we have we were
definitely naive and I know that helped
a lot but it’s such a special company it
had good bones and a great reputation
but it was frayed at the edges its owner
Paul was in his 70s and he had owned the
business for more than 30 years he
needed to sell it in order to retire but
he hadn’t thought about that hadn’t
planned to couldn’t picture life beyond
owning the business and he said to us I
didn’t have an exit strategy I had a
heart attack well he did not sugarcoat
that one bit but we thought that kind of
admission was unique to him but it’s not
in surveys many business owners will say
that not only is the business their job
but it’s also their retirement plan so
they will need to sell it in order to
retire and that is about seven years
later than a typical employees
retirement if they can even find a buyer
the owner will likely have to finance a
portion of the sale so this perfect
storm is called income and wealth
vulnerability translation all your eggs
are in one basket so I named this
unnamed group and tripping or aging
business owners who are near the end of
their association with their business
there are a lot of us and we hide in
plain sight to 10,000 baby boomers
turned 65 every day in the United States
at 51%
of all small privately held businesses
are owned by someone over the age of 50
and that age is getting older too
since younger people aren’t starting
businesses in the numbers that they used
to
due to the burdens of student loan debt
so in my research I have found that the
enterpreneurship the unchartered waters
can result in some of the riskiest times
in a business owners life and like many
people you might have assumed the
Entrepreneurship was more risky right
the early days yeah that’s a very risky
time we all know those odds of success
are low but if there’s time to recover
from an early failure or to make a
course correction it probably isn’t the
riskiest and on the way to making that
first sale startups do get a lot of
resources and attention including
workshops accelerators and sometimes
even and advisers and investors who want
to get in early here’s what Paul knew
that going into business at something
you’re good at isn’t that hard but
getting out hole 30 years later is hard
for many business owners retirement will
be their one and only exit from the
business and they’re not sure how or
when to do that so without an obvious
successor then more risk will come
closer to the last sale when you’re more
likely to be alone out of time and
uninteresting in a country that loves it
startups what an opportunity though hmm
for communities to engage in discussions
about business transition and I’m
involving all of you oh yeah we’re
rowing together because you either know
a pole you work for a pole or maybe you
are Paul and you know it’s different if
an employee wants to test out retirement
they can work part-time or seasonally in
a bridge job it’s really popular for
retirees and it’s a win for companies
too but it’s different for the owner
they can’t count on ramping down like
that so I’d like to see entrepreneurs
talking earlier about exiting their
business while there’s time for
decisions and advice that can add value
I know I know it’s kind of icky it’s
like asking the newly married couple
wins the divorce and that’s rude that’s
rude but this is a commitment for better
or for worse entrepreneurship is small
business strategy and retirement
planning small firm finance and personal
financial literacy all of that can be
taught and learned what’s not taught
what is learned business owners
mortality the power of their attachment
to the company and their identity that
comes from it Steve and I love the
business but we ask and he works there
but we ask how long can you do this
Steve and we think we have a plan but we
sure do understand how Paul didn’t so
the European Union is starting to get
their heads around this issue they
believe that the economy the communities
business owners and employees are all
better off if conversations like these
happen early and not under duress they
honor the attachment that the business
owner has to the business with a
transition that involves a bridge job
freedom from having to finance the sale
sometimes they ramp up the new owner
yeah but all those eggs in two different
baskets and that’s a level of attention
expertise excitement and respect that
startups get that’s a big idea for small
business the United States isn’t having
conversations like this yet yet hmm I
wonder what we can do here in Rhode
Island where 96% of business is small
and population is aging rapidly or what
if we don’t talk about it
so Paul lived across the street from the
factory and he became a friend and the
master martini maker on Fridays at 5:01
shake shake shake shake shake shake
shake shake he’d come across the street
and the shop dog would wag her tail and
bark a happy greeting hmm we all bark –
happy greeting he always made a toast
sometimes just to Friday so his health
declined and he passed away about seven
years ago but he would have loved this
conversation and he had learned a thing
or two about unchartered waters before
we leave the shore
he’d christen this boat and of course of
course he’d have a toast to the
intrapreneur thank you
[Applause]
you
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