Sold my retail store about a year ago. For the first few months I was checking my bank balance almost daily, even though nothing was changing. It was like I couldn't trust that the money was actually there. I had run that place for 17 years and built it from nothing, so the sale felt like jumping off a cliff. What finally helped was setting up a separate account for the proceeds and only moving a fixed amount to my checking each month, like a paycheck. Took a while for my brain to believe the new setup. Curious if others had this same anxiety and how you got past it.
Post-Sale
How I stopped worrying about money after selling my store
The daily balance checking thing is so real. I did the same after selling my landscaping company. It was like phantom limb syndrome for your business. What helped me was having an actual budget written down instead of just eyeballing it.
How long did the anxiety last for you? I'm four months out and still not sleeping great.
Not the OP but for me it was probably eight or nine months before I stopped opening the banking app every morning. Time helps, but only if you have some structure in place. Without a routine I think it would have gone on longer tbh.
Four months is still early. I wouldn't panic about that yet. But if it's affecting sleep that badly, it might be worth talking to someone. Not trying to be alarmist, just saying.
moonlit_gravel, four months in I was still waking up at 3am doing math in my head. It eased up around month seven or eight. I also stopped reading business sale forums for a while, which probably did me more good than anything.
Interesting that reading forums made it worse. I'd have thought the opposite. Guess it depends on what you're reading.
There's a certain kind of post-sale conversation online that's just people comparing multiples and second-guessing. Easy to fall into.
Thanks both. Might try the fixed monthly transfer thing. I've just had everything sitting in one big account and every purchase feels like I'm eating into the sale.