INSIDE LETTING-GO MENTORING
Let the Buyer Work Inside Before Settlement
You are selling to someone who wants to work inside the business first, and every staff member, supplier and client still rings you. Ivanka Menken uses the In-Business Handover Map inside Letting-Go Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, to stage the handover across 18 months: what the incoming owner learns, who they hire, when the work moves out of your house, and which calls you stop taking at each stage.
The In-Business Handover Map is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product. Ivanka does not advise on sale terms; that is for your lawyer and accountant.
AN EXAMPLE TRADES BUSINESS
A buyer ready to learn. A founder who still took every call.
- THE BUSINESSfamily-owned, run from the founder’s house9 people, $1.6m
- THE PLANa closing-week briefing, then the keys1 week
- THE MAPfour stages, each with the calls the founder stops taking18 months
THE RULE
“At every stage, name one kind of call that now goes to the incoming owner, and stop answering it.”
Your stages and your calls will be your own.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
A buyer inside, and every call still comes to you
- 01The incoming owner wants to work in the business before settlement, and nobody knows what they are allowed to decide.
- 02Staff, suppliers and clients still ring you first, even when the new owner is in the room.
- 03Your plan for the handover is a briefing in the last week.
THE HANDOVER, AS IT STANDS
- Incoming owner: two days a week
- Calls to the founder: all of them
- Decisions the buyer owns: none, yet
- Base of operations: the founder’s house
- Handover plan: one briefing in closing week
The buyer has time. The team still has one number.
THE EXAMPLE CASE
The founder who planned to hand over everything at settlement
01
THE MOMENT
Eleven calls, and none of them to the buyer
The incoming owner has started two days a week. On Tuesday they sat beside you while you took eleven calls: a supplier, two clients, three staff and a quote. They listened politely. On Wednesday a site lead walked past them to ask you a question they could have answered. Settlement is eighteen months away, and the only plan is a handover week at the end.
02
WHAT THEY HAD TRIED
A closing-week briefing
In this case, the founder ran a family-owned trades business of nine people at about $1.6m revenue, run from their own house, and had agreed to sell to an incoming owner who wanted to work inside first. The obvious plan was a full briefing in the week before settlement. It could pass on facts, not the trust of the staff or the feel for which client needed which call.
03
WHAT IVANKA NOTICED
The buyer had access, not authority
Ivanka noticed the incoming owner was in the business but owned nothing in it, so the team kept going around them. Before the founder could step back, the buyer needed to hire the first employees themselves, move the work out of the founder’s house and earn the staff’s trust in stages, with the founder visibly handing calls across.
THE DIAGNOSIS
Sequencing, not a briefing
The real problem was sequencing. The founder was trying to hand over a whole business on one day, when knowledge and trust move in stages.
The reframe: stage the handover inside the business, long before settlement. Each stage gives the incoming owner something real to own and names the calls the founder stops taking, so the team learns the new number before the old one goes quiet.
Trust moves in stages. The calls you stop taking are the handover.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Every month the founder stays the only number, the buyer learns less, the staff trust the change less, and settlement day carries more risk for everyone.
THE TOOL
The In-Business Handover Map, for one trades business
The In-Business Handover Map is how Letting-Go Mentoring stages a seller’s letting go. It splits the months before settlement into stages, gives the incoming owner something to own at each one, and names the kind of call the founder stops taking, so authority moves before the keys do.
Tap a part. The counts are an example; your stages and calls will be your own.
In-Business Handover Map · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
It is one page across 18 months, in four stages: access, first hires, the move out of the founder’s house, and staff trust. Under each stage sit what the incoming owner now owns, the trust checkpoint with the team, and the calls that go to them from that point. The founder’s call count falls stage by stage.
What it replaces
It replaces a closing-week briefing, a buyer who shadows without deciding, and a team that keeps ringing the founder because nobody told them otherwise.
It sits inside Letting-Go Mentoring, where one handover is made each fortnight and checked at the next session. It is not legal or financial advice on the sale; the sale terms stay with your lawyer and accountant.
THE MAP, AS WRITTEN
- 01Months 1 to 3, access: the incoming owner takes quotes and supplier calls
- 02Months 4 to 6, first hires: they hire the office coordinator and a site lead
- 03Months 7 to 12, the move: work runs from a small depot, not the house
- 04Months 13 to 18, trust: staff and client calls go to them first
- 05Each stage: one trust checkpoint with the team
- 06Settlement: the founder answers questions, not calls
HOW IVANKA WORKED WITH THEM
From one briefing to four stages
In the session, Ivanka asked the founder to list every call they took in a normal week and who it came from, then to sort them by what the incoming owner could take now and what needed trust first. Together they set four stages across the 18 months, with the calls that move at each one and a checkpoint with the team. The founder left with the first stage written and a date to tell the staff.
THE IN-BUSINESS HANDOVER MAP, AS WRITTEN
- Stage
- Access, first hires, the move, staff trust: each with its months.
- Incoming owner owns
- The decisions and calls that are now theirs.
- Founder stops
- The kind of call the founder no longer answers.
- Trust checkpoint
- How the team shows it now goes to the new owner first.
- Review
- Each fortnight, against the calls that still came to the founder
Your stages and your calls will be your own.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingA buyer inside the business who owns nothing yet.
- 2The numbersNine people, $1.6m, 18 months to settlement.
- 3The storyA good briefing at the end will be enough.
- 4The commitmentStage one written, the first calls handed across, the team told.
THE QUESTIONS
- Who rang you this week, and about what?
- Which of those calls could the incoming owner take now?
- What does the buyer need to hire or move to own the work?
- How will the team know the new owner decides?
- Which call will you stop taking first?
Before the next session, the founder told the team that quotes and supplier calls now go to the incoming owner, stopped answering them, and noted every call that still came to them anyway.
WHAT CHANGED
Authority moves before the keys
By month 6, the incoming owner takes quotes and supplier calls, has hired the first two employees, and the team has a date for the move out of the founder’s house. The founder’s weekly call count is falling, and each fortnight one more kind of call moves across.
BEFORE
- Every call to the founder.
- A buyer who shadows and decides nothing.
- Operations run from the founder’s house.
- A closing-week briefing as the plan.
BY MONTH 6
- Quotes and suppliers with the incoming owner.
- The first two hires made by the buyer.
- A date for the move to a depot.
- Four stages, with the calls named at each.
THE 12 FORTNIGHTS
- 1Call
- 2Call
- 3Call
- 4Call
- 5Call
- 6Month 3
- 7Call
- 8Call
- 9Call
- 10Call
- 11Call
- 12Month 6
The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, one handover each fortnight, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.
ILLUSTRATIVE RESULT
In this case, the founder wrote an 18-month handover log with checkpoints for the first hires, the move out of the house and the staff’s trust, and stopped taking the daily calls that belonged to the incoming owner. By settlement, the buyer already knew the business better than anyone.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
Hand over the first call this fortnight
Ivanka Menken built Letting-Go Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who became the bottleneck. Selling the business does not end that on its own; the handover has to happen while you are still there.
This fits if a buyer or successor wants to work inside before settlement and the team still rings you first. It does not fit if you want the sale terms negotiated or legal advice on the contract. The decision in front of you is the first kind of call you stop taking. Name it and tell the team.
“During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
It fits
- You are selling to someone who will work inside first.
- The team, suppliers and clients still call you.
- Settlement is months away, not days.
- You will hand calls across and stop answering them.
It does not fit
- You want the sale terms negotiated.
- You want legal, tax or financial advice.
- The sale closes next week.
- You plan to stay in charge until the last day.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
The In-Business Handover Map is part of Letting-Go Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- One handover each fortnight
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The In-Business Handover Map for your sale
Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous. Claim a founding place.
The In-Business Handover Map is part of the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about handing over before a sale
How long should the handover take when selling a small business?
Long enough for the buyer to own real work before settlement, often many months rather than a week. Stage it: access first, then their own hires, then where the work runs from, then the staff’s trust. Ivanka Menken sets those stages with you inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. The sale terms stay with your lawyer and accountant.
Should the buyer work in the business before settlement?
Often yes, if the work they do is real. A buyer who only shadows learns facts, not the business. Give them calls and decisions to own at each stage, and tell the team. Ivanka Menken builds that staged plan inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. What they may legally do before settlement is a question for your lawyer.
How do I get staff to go to the new owner instead of me?
Stop answering the calls that now belong to them, and say so out loud. Each stage names one kind of call that moves, and a checkpoint shows whether the team now goes to the new owner first. Ivanka Menken writes those stages with you inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, one handover each fortnight.
Is the In-Business Handover Map legal advice on the sale?
No. It covers the people side of the handover: what the incoming owner learns and owns, who they hire, and which calls you stop taking. The contract, price and settlement terms are for your lawyer and accountant. Ivanka Menken works on the handover inside Letting-Go Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.
Hand over before the keys
If a buyer is inside the business and every call still comes to you, start with Letting-Go Mentoring. The In-Business Handover Map is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the programme fits.
Not legal advice, sale negotiation or a broker.