What happens when a business owner wants to retire or move on? Hopefully, they can transfer the business to a new owner who will continue to run it and deliver benefits to the local Cape Breton economy.

That’s what Jennifer Halliday wanted for her business. Halliday and her family decided to move to the US, but she didn’t want her well-established orthotics clinic in Sydney to shut down and leave her customers without service … and the local economy with one less business.

Stephanie Hazelwood, Advanced Mobility Orthopaedics

Halliday used social media to find someone with the right qualifications, and the desire to live in Cape Breton, to transfer her business to. It worked. Stephanie Hazelwood is moving from Lethbridge, AB to take over the business.

Finding a needle in a haystack may accurately describe the challenge of finding someone with orthopedics training who is willing to run their own business, willing to pick up and relocate across the country, and at the right time in their lives to take such a big risk.

This is the challenge faced by many local business owners when it comes time for them to retire or move on.  They may not be able to find qualified candidates for the sale or transfer of the business.

What happens when qualified candidates cannot be found?  The business owner may sell the business at a price much lower than they expected, or worse, may end up shutting down the business entirely. Neither scenario is good for Cape Breton. 

A better selling price enables the business owner to spend their windfall locally, and they may even invest in new local business startups. Without this activity, our economy suffers.

The challenge is that most business owners set themselves up for this failure. They don’t prepare their businesses to be transferred or sold  -- often referred to as “business succession planning.” And, they don’t properly market the availability of their business to attract qualified candidates.

For example, to uncover qualified candidates, most business owners rely on personal networks and assistance from their accountants and lawyers. Helpful for sure, but relying on tiny networks almost guarantees that the business owner severely limits their ability to find suitable candidates.

Cape Bretoners living at home or away are often the most likely candidates to buy an existing local business. Many expat Cape Bretoners are looking for an opportunity to return, and may have the funds to purchase an operating business at a price that is good for all parties.

Emily Pelley, Subway

This is what happened with the local Subway restaurants. Long-time owner Kirk MacRae sold all his Cape Breton franchises to the Pelley family.  The Pelleys are originally from Cape Breton but have been running Subway restaurants in Newfoundland for many years. The sale offers them the opportunity to spend more time in Cape Breton.

Uncovering as many buyers as possible almost always results in a better selling price from more qualified candidates.  And social media marketing is the only way to cast a wide net.

The Farmer’s Daughter was having a hard time finding employees to work in their growing operation in Whycocomagh. The labour market in the village was very limited, and the owners found that recruiting people to live and work in a small business in rural Nova Scotia was challenging.

Farmer's Daughter, Whycocomagh

The owners had an idea. They owned land nearby and offered three acres to any new employee that agreed to come and work for them for at least five years. They posted the offer to Facebook, and it was picked up by the national media. They received over 100,000 job applications in a few months.

That’s a highly public success story.  Most business owners prefer to keep the potential sale of their businesses more discreet. Rightfully so, as the potential transfer of ownership of a business creates uncertainty with customers. These things are often kept quiet until an official transfer is legalized. But, there are ways to maintain discretion, even on social media.

The team at goCapeBreton.com has been concerned about the effects of business succession to the Cape Breton economy. To help with the process, a feature has been integrated into the goCapeBreton.com website that makes it easy for business owners and buyers to connect.

Leveraging the large goCapeBreton.com network assures that business owners can cast a wide net for qualified candidates, who may be in Cape Breton or living away. Business owners can do so publicly or discreetly. Self-serve options are completely free, but there is also an optional marketing package where the goCapeBreton.com team does the work for the business owner for a small fee.

In all of the examples above, the challenge was finding the right people to take the right action at the right time. Communications created the social capital to make these deals happen, and the community benefited as a result. goCapeBreton.com was designed to build and unlock the social capital of Cape Breton Island.

Contact the goCapeBreton.com team for more information

Read more about Advanced Mobility Orthopaedics

Read more about Subway stores in Cape Breton

Read more about the Farmer's Daughter