Who will Cry when I Die? Who will carry the torch?
Good morning from NZ - It's Sunday morning and as always I have had something on my mind for the past wee while.
Who will cry when I die?
No it's not about the Book Robin Sharma wrote although the title may suggest this.
This morning is about Death- Yes, the end of time here on this wonderful planet.
What Happens to your Biz?
Over the past 5 months here in WA, I have seen post about Illnesses, Death and Injuries and although this is a business platform, these things get shared, which got me thinking.
Anyone at anytime can"pop their clogs"as the saying goes so what happens to your Business if you pass over?
Ideas
My daughter is visiting me today with her husband and I have mentioned to Staci that I would like to share my business with her so she becomes familiar with how to do things. My passwords for my computer, my Affiliate Programs, my PayPal details, in fact every important piece of information she will need to carry on where I left off or just be involved enough to take care of the financial side of things as they happen.
She told me to write it in my will,bless her but I explained, this needs to be seen and understood so she can continue after I have gone and if she wishes to she can close down my business or carry on and continue to reap the benefits as they occur.
Death is uncertain. We do not know what age, what day or what year this will happen to any one of us here in WA and I felt compelled to write this blog around this subject so you can all think about how and what you will do to make sure your business is looked after if this is important to you.
Make a Plan
Are we allowed to pass on our business? I am sure we are :)
Lets not leave these things undone - Lets always know everything will be OK for whoever is left behind so they can benefit from all our years of effort and also receive monies from this as well.
Would love to know your thoughts on this :)
Lets not get morbid but instead look at this as a joyous celebration for the person/people who will benefit.
As with any Business, when Death occurs, someone always benefits from the Estate.
Have you sorted this out with those you care about and love?
And remember
Please like and share your comments on this as I truly value your opinions around this subject :) Thank you
Vicki
Recent Comments
119
We have already thought about this.
We will either sell the website and give the family the money or give it to family in the UK, several of whom are very savvy business people to do with as they want.
Something we all need to think about. thanks for posting.
Colette and Philip
Hey you 2 awesome people
Yes, I am hopefully going to do this as well and because there is only me here I am going to instruct my daughter on how to get things done so neither of the children or grandchildren misses out :)
Thanks for sharing this great comment and I hope people realize the importance as we do :)
Go easy and keep being awesome
Vicki
I appreciate your post, Vicki. I recently went down this road with the death of my corporate business partner. An unexpected death can leave many uncertainties in a business. Life goes on and all is well now, but the skills that he brought to the table are missing. Right now, I'm not interested in finding someone to take his place, but I am considering my options for the future of the business.
Meanwhile, I am in WA doing what I've always enjoyed and developing niches that I have been passionate about and that I have worked in for years (with and without my business partner).
It never hurts to plan, nor is it too early to plan for an untimely death. As for who would pick up my WA biz, that would be my younger brother.
Thank you for the post! :)
Colleen
Hi Colleen and yes - we all need to prepare as one never knows when the lights will go out
Thank you for your input- I value this very much and keep building and be awesome
Vicki
Condolences I see that the All Blacks just lost the test match to Ireland, the first time the Irish have won on home soil, it will be going off in Dublin tonite for sure they will probably declare a public holiday.
What a wonderful post, Vicki, I am most impressed. It is something that we don't really think about, it is definitely something that we should spend some time on and work out a succession plan for the folks around us.
The thing is that online marketing is in most cases a solitary expedition, so it is all retained with us, and the thing is that with online marketing we are coming from a different culture and most definitely speaking a different online language.
When you think about it, it is not a straightforward process, there is so much going on even in a fledgling business, even navigating our devices, the information contained on the average marketer's laptop, hard drives and mobile devices would be mind-boggling to most folks and as an asset has real value.
To be honest, I have been thinking about it, but haven't taken any action, your post has given me that motivation to do so.
I hope that you are keeping good health, Vicki.
Thank you,
Alex.
Hi Alex
I missed the game so will catch the replay later today :) Hmmm great win for the Irish it seems- Well done as our team are pretty good so they must have been on form to clean up.
Yes, you are so right about it being difficult for someone to step in, however, it would be beneficial for whoever takes over to receive the income from what we receive
Thanks for your input Alex and I am well thank you :)
Enjoy your new week ahead my friend
Vicki
Sorry about the spoiler alert Vicki, so true that is one of the benefits of working online and if things are set out well then it may be possible for someone to step in and carry the torch.
Alex
at 88 this is something I must face. It is way past time to get my affairs in order. You daughter is right. What goes to whom must be in the will, but I am documenting everything my business does so who ever gets it will have a guide to go by. Your business will be more valuable when it is well documented
Great work Bill and so good to see you have got things in order as it will make everything so much easier in 20 years from now :))
Longevity and success to you
Vicki
Hi Vicki, happy Sunday - just ticked over to 8am here in Aus. What a thought provoking post. The business part is something I hadn't thought of either so will def have some conversations with my wife. We have a spreadsheet with all of our login deets for our main businesses but not fir this one so will set that up as a starter.
The 'who will cry when I die' philosophy is fascinating. We had a very close mate of ours pass from cancer a few years ago. He was only 46 and was a central point in our football and golf circles for years. We were all catching up the other week and discussion turned to him and how when you pass, life just moves on as if you never existed. If we didn;t remember him, the world would not!.
We set up a golf day in our social club in his honour that day in the hope that his memory will never fade. Sorry to take this off topic and not to appear morbid.. Just a fascinating subject to me.
Have fun over there accross the ditch
Paul
Hi Paul- just gone 10 here and thanks for this awesome input.
Yes, we often think about out offline life and what will happen and it is so important as our business grows online that someone else could keep going or at least let people know what happened and I felt it really important to get people thinking and I'm glad this has done this for you.
Yes tribute s to people are so awesome and it's not morbid- life goes on and celebrating the passing of someone close by doing what you guys have done is so cool
All the best for the week ahead and thank you again
Vicki
For me this is something to also be taken seriously. Having spent loads of time on creating a business it makes sense to consider what will happen to it when I pass over. Once I start seeing the fruits of my labor it will be interesting to see who out of my family and friends takes interest and wants this for themselves.
Hi Angela
Yes, I hear you with this and imagine if something happened and our business died because we did- I am looking forward to seeing my daughter today and sharing more with her :)
She is very bright and I hope she drinks the info I give her
Go easy and all the best working your plan for your legacy to continue
Vicki
This is a very real thing to think about indeed.
I hadn’t really thought of it, but since my grandad passed, everyone was struggling to figure out how his business worked. He never really talked about it much so we never asked.
Thanks for being up such an important topic!
Hi Timothy
Yes, it happens all too often and many passwords and great businesses go to the grave with the person and I am really glad I wrote this blog to bring people into awareness and thank you for your input and I hope all is going great with you
Planning to Protect our assets is always a good idea :)
Vicki
Vicki, welcome from the US. It is Saturday on this side of the world. A dream I will never see is to visit your country. Onto the subject of dying, what an unpleasant thought! Our children tend to think we are morbid when we talk about passing on things such as businesses and fortunes, so your daughter's response was probably normal. But you are correct in thinking about this because what DOES happen to the business if we were to die suddenly. I assume it would go up in smoke like the rest of your life. I suppose if you didn't have anyone to pass your business on to, or to even wrap with the loose ends, it would probably just disappear. Corporate businesses avoid this by having sustainability - a plan that carries the business on long after the original owners are no longer interested. A very thought-provoking post.
Thanks for this feedback Carol and yes Staci did step back a little as they do lol
Now she understands how important it is for her to learn a little even if it is to tie up loose ends or maybe to continue sustaining my empire when I'm gone :)
Thank you, Carol
Vicki
Hi Vicki. funny you should write about this topic, It has been on my mind quite a lot lately, I guess when you get to be my age and you know you are closer now than before and when you keep losing friends in your age group the thought will come.
My children are also down on me to make a will but I have not done so as yet I will take this as a nudge to get it done.
Hi Ruthlyn- no matter what age it is when you pass, what will happen to your business?
Have you thought about this?
Vicki
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I have thought about that time of life a lot lately due to my husband illness. His affairs are in order finally. He did not want to go through the tasks involved until I sat him down and said now is the time. I have now started working with my son. Spending time with him weekly on all areas of my estate. Even teaching him how to pay the bills. I have introduced him to the executor of my estate should I (pop my clogs, I love that sane Vicki) before he is of age. I also started working with on WA, and he is taking Boot camp with me. We never know when we will be called up to a beautiful world.
sandy
PS he rebelled when I tried to teach him how to do his wash.
Sandy
Hi Sandy
Sorry for the late reply- just had some awesome time with my daughter
Good on you for teaching your Son your trade as he will benefit from it all :)
Good work and also doing his wash- love it :) lol
Vicki
Someday, I will tell his reaction to my suggestion he clean his bathroom it was priceless 😂
Sandy
love it and can only imagine Sandy
Gotta love our boys :)