What the summer break might reveal about your business

I’ve noticed a real difference between the conversations I have with business owners before Christmas and after. Pre-Christmas, there’s a lot of emotion. People are busy, stressed, and just want quick answers. They haven’t had time to sit with what they’re really feeling. There are a lot of assumptions.

There’s something about the summer holidays that brings clarity. When you finally stop, spend time with family, get some sun, and step away from the daily grind, the fog lifts. The things that have been niggling at you all year suddenly come into sharper focus.

After the break, things get real. People detach from the emotional parts of what’s been driving them. They have barbecue conversations with friends and family, get different perspectives, and start to see whether the issues that have been bugging them are truly significant or whether there might be an easy solve. Spending quality time with the people you love often reminds you why you’re working so hard in the first place, and sometimes that realigns your priorities entirely.

When business partners want different things

One of the most common issues I see is misalignment between business partners. It’s rarely about anyone being a bad person. It usually comes down to the stage of life each person is at.

I worked with a business recently where two founders had built something successful together over many years. Then life happened. One of them went through a relationship separation, followed by health problems, and then bereavements in the family. They tried to keep contributing, but they simply couldn’t give the business what they once had.

The other partner did what good people do: they picked up the slack. They covered for their friend, took on extra responsibility, and tried to hold things together. That went on for a long time. But eventually, the weight of it started to show. The partner doing all the heavy lifting began to resent that they were pouring everything into the business while someone else was still taking an equal share of the rewards. They started holding back, reluctant to invest more effort when the fruits of their labour were being split with someone who couldn’t match their contribution.

Neither person was wrong. One was dealing with genuine hardship. The other was burning out from carrying the load. But the business was suffering, and their friendship was fraying. They needed to acknowledge that what had worked before wasn’t working anymore, and find a new arrangement that was fair to both of them.

This is how most partnership problems unfold. People want different things as they get older. Someone goes through relationship changes, health challenges, or family upheaval, and their capacity or priorities shift.

What worked five years ago doesn’t work anymore.

I’ve also seen the opposite situation: a founder of a really successful company who simply didn’t want to be a boss anymore. He’d built something impressive, but he’d had enough of managing people. Managing people is the hardest part of running a business, and he just wanted to get back on the tools and do the work he actually enjoyed. He wanted to sell his shares but stay on as an employee. That’s a tricky transition when you’ve been making all the decisions, but it was the right move for him.

The early warning signs

The first signs of trouble are usually around alignment on company direction. One party wants to plan for what’s next; the other doesn’t. Or when you do get into planning, there’s a mismatch of energy and focus. If that’s not addressed, you end up with each person going off to do their own thing, and suddenly the business is fragmented.

There’s often a distinction between those who want to stay and grow the company and those who are thinking about exiting. The ones who want to stay are typically very invested in their people and culture.

What good looks like

You can get great outcomes from bringing in a third party early. This could be an independent director, someone who sits on the board and has regular catch-ups to make sure everyone is aligned, or even a strategist to analyse and provide recommendations. Their jobs are to spot the differences and highlight them before they fester.

Once things begin to fester, and people start secretly engaging advisors to act on their behalf, you’ve got real mistrust. That’s not easy to come back from.

Openness and communication are always key. Regular strategy sessions give you a chance to check in on whether everyone is happy in their corner. When life is busy, and you’re all wearing multiple hats, it’s easy to assume everyone’s fine just because the work is getting done.

But are they fulfilled? That’s the question worth asking.

If you’ve missed the warning signs and things have become genuinely difficult, the resolution process depends on how far down the track you’ve gone and who’s involved.

We usually start with individual conversations with the key parties. When people come to us, there’s often already a lot of emotion. Even if two partners come in together, they’re probably not showing all their cards. They’re emotionally driven or holding things back. We need to understand where the real drivers are, because everyone has their own story.

Then it’s about figuring out whether what they want is even doable: does the money align, does the timing work, and what level of effort are people willing to put in? Some people just want to leave.

Getting the valuation right

Before any negotiation happens, you need a proper valuation. So many times, I see people put a dollar figure on their company that’s wildly off, either overstated or understated.

A client came to us recently after receiving an offer to buy out their share of a business. They’d had a valuation done and were preparing to accept. The number felt low to them, but it was in a proper report, prepared by an accountant, so they assumed it must be right.

We reviewed the valuation. The methodology was flawed, key factors hadn’t been considered, and the final figure was perhaps ten times lower than what the business was actually worth. Ten times. We’re talking about a lot of money that this person was about to walk away from, because they trusted a report that shouldn’t have been trusted.

Don’t assume your accountant knows how to do a valuation or understands your business just because they’ve done your books for ten years. They look at multiple businesses every day; they don’t necessarily know the ins and outs of yours. A proper valuation should show all the assumptions and key risks. The valuers should be asking questions that make you feel confident they truly understand your business, not just applying a rough multiple to your recent profits. They need to have an experienced track record.

As soon as a dollar figure goes on paper, emotion gets attached to it. Get that number right from the start.

Don’t let it leak

Another common mistake is letting business tensions seep out to staff too early. When disagreements get loud, staff notice. That creates uncertainty about job security and the company’s future. People start guessing what the company is worth and whether they should buy in. Gossip spreads, misinformation circulates, and nobody knows where things stand.e full picture, you can make informed decisions that create resilience and purposeful results.

Staff aren’t stupid. Just because they’re not owners doesn’t mean they can’t see what’s happening. And when good people leave because of uncertainty, your business value drops. All that work you’ve put in starts going down the drain.

Keep communication clear between owners, bring in a third party to help, and manage the process professionally.

Planning your exit

If you’re thinking about exiting your business, whether through retirement, selling, or passing it on, the starting point depends on your circumstances. Do you have staff? Do you have good staff? How long do you want to stay involved?

A lot of people wait for the market to improve, but business isn’t like property. Though the environment can impact your business’s performance, you’re not going to suddenly get double your value solely due to the market. Business values tend to stay relatively stable, and buyers always want to pay less than what something is worth. The real question is about your own commitments and timeline.

If you’ve got good staff but no family succession plan, employee share ownership plans (ESOPs) can be a great option. They help with retention, give your people a sense of ownership, and start developing their own business mindset.

There are also more options now with immigration visa pathways (read here for more). More people from overseas can purchase businesses within certain criteria, so the buyer pool is broader than you might think.

Whatever you do, don’t just shut up shop before talking with someone.

Summer thinking

If you’re reading this over the break and finding yourself thinking about your business situation, whether it’s partnership tensions, an exit, or just a general sense of being stuck, that’s a signal worth paying attention to.

Maybe your partner or family has raised something over the holidays. Maybe you’re just tired and wondering if there’s a better way. Maybe you’ve been holding things together through the tough years, and now you’re realising it’s time for change or even more growth.

Come and have a chat. We can talk through where you’re at, whether it’s a brand new thought or something you’ve been mulling over for years. We’ll look at what the next few years might look like, what’s making you happy, and whether you’re getting what you need from your work.

We’re not here to rush you into a decision. We genuinely enjoy understanding what drives people and what motivates them. Life’s too short to feel stuck.

If you’d like to talk, get in touch. Sometimes a conversation is all you need to figure out the next step.

Nicola Price is part of the team at Gilligan Sheppard. If you’re contemplating changes to your business situation, reach out for a confidential conversation.