Close the Doors. This is your right. You own the business and you can close it down.

Topic for Discussion: Why would anyone miss the opportunity to get cash for the business they had worked hard to build?

Answer: First, because the business is more than money to many owners. In the case of Joseph Johnson, and many others we might add, he probably thought that if he sold the business or passed it on to someone, he would die.

Getting up everyday and having a place to go and things to do is what kept Mr. Johnson productive until he was one hundred and one years old. He used the business as his medicine. The business was his vaccination against death.

Bonnie Brown, a family business consultant based in Oregon, told us that "The senior leadership of a family-owned business stays active in the business because they can't think of anything else to do with their time." Ebby Halliday told us that at 90 years of age she still goes to the office every day because there is nothing she would rather do.

Second, because they think it is of no value to anyone but them. And part of that thinking is they are sure that there is no person on the planet who would possibly want to take over all the headaches of the company and at the same time pay money to take over!

Third, because most people act as if they will live forever. We protect ourselves mentally by not thinking about death or debilitating disease. We learned that Ray DiSanto died suddenly with no succession plan. He had 40 employees and plenty of happy customers! Surely he knew his company had value. Surely he knew it could have been passed on to employees or to an entrepreneur interested in harbor construction or in the infrastructure development of Providence. Ray must have simply thought that he would always be around to lead the company and that was a dire miscalculation.

You think about it: If you died today, what would happen to your business?