There’s one approach that can help overcome all 3 of these problems that cause many owners to close their business to retire rather than being able to sell it:

• internet competition,
• lack of loyalty among younger customers,
• and owners not being able to find a buyer.

That approach is strategic use of the web to:

• increase customer loyalty,
• reach new target markets,
• improve business operations and efficiency,
• and adapt the business to attract a young buyer.

A strategic tech plan combined with a craving for nostalgia can attract young entrepreneurs who don’t want to have to start from scratch.

Combining the young entrepreneur’s web confidence with your hard-won wisdom from decades of experience can create an unbeatable combination to carry a legacy business into the future.

Young entrepreneurs know their peers crave the nostalgia of what they didn’t get to grow up with: the intimacy and emotion of buying in locally-owned stores. That’s because parents were too busy taking them to drive-thru’s and all the big boxes.

Younger people ARE loyal if you give them a reason to be loyal. When not buying online, many of them actually prefer to patronize small, local businesses.

Why do you think large companies try so desperately to project a “small” vibe now?

If you work to appeal to young customers, it might actually help you find the perfect new owner for your business.

By the way I’m now writing a book on this topic that’s dear to me, how owners and young entrepreneurs can work together to carry legacy businesses into the future. It’s a followup to Boomer Cashout (plain talk about how you can use the web to increase the value & marketability of your business to sell for retirement).

Let me know if you know of a legacy business that has successfully transferred and might be good to include in the book, or if I can help you reach your own goals!