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Change—the entire process of selling a business is about change. Its quantity and degree depend on many factors: complexity and size of your business, the deal structure, your preparation, how dependent your business is on you, and many more. Like many owners selling a company, you may misunderstand and underestimate the impact of this change on others. William Bridges, author of Managing Transitions, put it best:

Before you begin something new, you have to end what used to be. . . . Before you can become a different kind of person, you must let go of your old identity. So beginnings depend on endings. The problem is, people don’t like endings. Yet change and endings go hand in hand: change causes transition, and transition starts with an ending. If things change within an organization, at least some of the employees and managers are going to have to let go of something. It isn’t the changes themselves that the people in these cases resist. It’s the losses and endings that they have experienced and the transition that they are resisting.

Regardless of your firm’s size, you and your management team must guide people past their resistance and through a series of changes that, to them, are also losses. You need a change management process and experienced people to help you anticipate what lies ahead. In all cases, you need to understand that sale of your business brings significant changes that people around you may see as threatening.

Some practitioners believe transition planning and communication planning belong later in the sequence of selling a business. Our experience has taught us otherwise. As soon as you’ve decided to sell, it’s critical to understand the changes involved and discuss how and when you will pass the torch to the new owners. Communicating to internal and external stakeholders correctly is essential. Finally, when planning how to sell a business, include a contingency plan for identifying and mitigating risks of many types.

Selling a business is a complex, time-consuming project, and it’s likely the most important one of your business life. Although you won’t do all of the detailed work, work personally with all external and internal teams. You need to guide their actions in the context of your selling plan and to document goals and track each element of them to completion. Since this is probably the most important professional and financial event of your career, letting it get out of control is not an option.

Sellers and buyers must understand and respect the sophistication and impact of the effort. “Habit is habit,” Mark Twain said, “and not to be flung out the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.” Your people will need your coaxing, because selling a business can disrupt everyone’s work and relationship “habits.” Leading people through change takes time, and it’s a struggle to insert a threatening happening and new work into the regular stream of activities and habits that consume their business day.

Besides changes that happen because you’re selling the business, the process of selling it represents change. Selling a business—a new experience for many—is a full-time activity placed upon people who already have full-time jobs. You have to be careful not to kill the goose that’s laying your golden eggs just as you are trying to sell it. Overtaxing people with work or anxiety about their jobs will certainly decrease their productivity.

Managing the process correctly, as with any sophisticated project, is paramount, even if your business is a small one. It’s essential to have detailed project plans that identify resources and time frames specifically. Most businesses have not been through the selling process before and lack methodologies, tools, or institutional skills to draw upon. Calling on outside experts if need be will help to forge realistic plans and expectations and bring the support you will need.

As a hard-charging entrepreneur, your first reaction may be that we are exaggerating the issue and attempting to mollycoddle the employees. Not true. Our experience has shown us that paying attention to the people side of the equation always pays off. The people that have made your business a successful one are an important part of the business and its valuation, and deserve your thoughtful consideration when planning to sell a business.

I invite you to use these ideas during your journey to sell a business.