In the NFL Chicago Bears – Washington Commanders game yesterday the Commanders Quarterback Jayden Daniels with 2 seconds left in the game heaved a pass into the Endzone.
These are last prayer passes and so-called “Hail Marys”.
Chicago tipped the ball but it went into the hands of Noah Brown from the Commanders for a Touchdown and a victory.
Chicago was stunned.
Washington ecstatic… and it’s a highlight that will be shown for years (You can see the play here on ESPN).
I’m not sure of the probability of successfully completing one of these passes.. I saw anywhere from 5 to 10% but you don’t want to rely on them to win the game.
And that 5 to 10% incidentally is the same percentage of business owners who go to sell their business one day and actually get paid the value of what they built.
You see 7 out of 10 won’t even complete a deal, even though the business is profitable and gave the owner a good “salary”.
And 2 out of 10 will complete a deal but just at the value of their hard assets or on the buyer’s terms.
So the 1 out of 10.. lucky owners who throw hail Mary’s and get the biggest cheque they have ever seen in their lives?
Maybe one or two but not really.
Instead, the 5 to 10% who get paid do so because they have spent the years preparing their business for a sale.
And by preparing the business for sale, they also got to enjoy the lifestyle rewards that come with that before the sale.
They weren’t stuck in a daily grind.
They were spending their time instead on where they want to spend it.
They weren’t stuck with stressful customers.
They choose who they do business with and it’s on their terms.
They didn’t feel alienation or resentment of their own business.
They felt they were accomplishing a purpose close to their hearts.
They weren’t stressed about cash flow and sacrificing holidays because they could not step away.
They were using their cash flow to give them the life they wanted – whatever that was.
In short, they were accomplishing why they started the business in the first place.
So how about you? Will you need to rely on a Hail Mary or are you building the business that gives you the life you want – from today?
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