What to do when the transaction falls through at the last moment?
Notes

What to do when the transaction falls through at the last moment?

By 28/06/2023No Comments

Interestingly, our reptilian brain blocks us and, in those moments, it’s very difficult for us to think rationally. Will they use the confidential information? Will the team be demotivated? Will they hire people from my team?…

For hundreds of thousands of years, we had to focus our brain on saving ourselves from unforeseen events like lurking animals, and it’s only recently that we started thinking rationally.

Moreover, young entrepreneurs have it even harder because the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that solves these types of situations, including uncertainties, develops until the age of 35.

The objective is to overcome this situation in six steps:

  1. Don’t think about the future. Be in the present, in the here and now… even in the worst-case scenario, the danger is not imminent.
  2. Only consider the real facts, not hypotheses. Learn about what has happened.
  3. Imagine the worst possible scenario, visualize it, and you will see that life continues to function… worse or better, but it will continue to function… whether it has been a waste of time, whether they have obtained confidential information, or if they can hire valuable personnel, etc.
  4. Then, imagine the best possible scenario… which has probably already happened in the past… what have we learned about product improvements, markets that work and we didn’t know about…
  5. Well, go to the intermediate scenario, which is usually what happens, and check it against the experiences we have had historically.
  6. And based on this last scenario, plan… if you are naturally optimistic, the future will seem deflated, and if you are pessimistic, you will see that it’s not that bad… but each person must act accordingly and incorporate these experiences into the existing action plan.

Finally, it is advisable to consult with the advisor if they agree with these experiences and what to do based on them… surely, after some time, they will see it as a great learning experience… if they have done their homework.

 

Written by Josep Ma Romances, Founder and President of CLOSA Capital