Small Business and Retirement - Ethics Question

[Culture]

I run a small consulting business where I am the sole employee. I provide professional services to clients who typically retain me for multiple engagement per year. My better clients hire retain me on a new engagement about once per week or two. On the other end, I have clients who engage me once or twice per year. My oldest clients have been with me 15-20 years, and my typical client has been with me at least five years. I do not have a lot of new clients as I do not have the capacity to much work from new clients (all of my work is existing clients or referrals).

My business provides consulting services to clients involved in litigation, and my clients are mostly lawyers. While there are others in town who offer the same services that I offer, I have a great reputation and my clients hire me when I have capacity to take on new jobs.

So here is the question:

I will be retiring in the next two to six weeks. By retiring I mean I will stop taking new assignments and will continue to work until all my existing assignments are complete. Do I have any ethical (or moral) obligation to provide a "notice" to my clients before I actually stop taking assignments? I had not thought about this until my wife mentioned it this week. I do not think I will leave any clients in the lurch, as there are competent competitors in town (they are just not as good as me ).

 

[Ian S]

I think I would tell each of the infrequent clients when you accept the last assignment for that firm. For those who retain you frequently, you might remain flexible so they won't have to rush to find a replacement, perhaps give them a couple of weeks. Word may get around though so you may miss out on some work as clients move to replace you preemptively. Alternately, I suppose you could give a month's notice to everyone about what you intend to do.

 

[RunningBum]

Do they exclusively use you, or are you often too busy and they have to find someone else at those times? I would likely inform any of my regular customers. Infrequent ones I might not bother, though you could. I don't know your business but it seems to me like if I had a handyman I used a lot, I would hope he'd tell me if he was retiring. But if I use a plumber only once a year or less, I wouldn't expect him to tell me, and if I found out he had retired when I need him I wouldn't feel let down, I'd just go to the next one. And I'd expect my family doctor or dentist to tell me if he/she were retiring since I exclusively use them, even if it isn't that often.

It seems like a professional thing to do, and since you aren't taking any new business, it can't hurt you.

 

[donheff]

Since you are retiring in a matter of weeks what possible downside is there to notifying clients? Letting people who have used you for years know you are leaving is just good client relations. And who knows - you may need to hire one of those lawyers some day.

 

[pb4uski]

..... Do I have any ethical (or moral) obligation to provide a "notice" to my clients before I actually stop taking assignments? I had not thought about this until my wife mentioned it this week. I do not think I will leave any clients in the lurch, as there are competent competitors in town (they are just not as good as me ).

Congratulations! I don't know about an ethical or moral obligation to notify your clients, but I think it would be common courtesy to let them know given you have decided to retire that you will decline new cases in two to six weeks. I would suggest that you call each of your regular clients and explain that you are retiring and will start not taking on new cases beginning (date you chose). Your infrequent clients you can notify with an email or a letter. That's what I would do.

In a way, it is similar to a key employee giving their employer a heads up that they are leaving.

 

[donheff]

Congratulations! I don't know about an ethical or moral obligation to notify your clients, but I think it would be common courtesy to let them know given you have decided to retire that you will decline new cases in two to six weeks.

+1 In my comment above I forgot to mention the ethical or moral obligation. Since you accept engagements on a case by case basis and plan to meet all ongoing obligations there is no ethical obligation to give notice. What I don't understand is the reluctance to let people you have worked for/with for years know you are leaving. I have known quite a few people who sneak out from work with no discernible reason for doing so. If you can't stand your bosses or the organization or have good reason to expect that they will retaliate and toss you out the door as soon as you give notice, OK. But when you are leaving an organization where you had a positive involvement and face no negatives why be so rude?

 

[Big_Hitter]

do you abide by a professional code of conduct? if so, what does it say about disengaging clients?

 

[MooreBonds]

I will be retiring in the next two to six weeks. By retiring I mean I will stop taking new assignments and will continue to work until all my existing assignments are complete. Do I have any ethical (or moral) obligation to provide a "notice" to my clients before I actually stop taking assignments? I had not thought about this until my wife mentioned it this week. I do not think I will leave any clients in the lurch, as there are competent competitors in town (they are just not as good as me ).

+1 on what other posters said.

And if you REALLY want to leave on a high note - have a very small 'retirement party' by inviting a few of your favorite/key clients. Doesn't have to be anything fancy - maybe just a small party room at a restaurant during the week with some appetizers or light buffet. (you might be able to get great pricing during the week...). Might cost you $300-$400, but would really leave a good impression on them.

 

[Katiek]

I agree with the posters above. I don't really think of it as an "ethical" issue, but a nice professional courtesy, especially for the clients who hire you every week. Plus, even if you think it is completely unlikely that you'll ever want to resume work part time, it never hurts to maintain the relationship.

 

[Texas Proud]

I am also with the posters above.... the clients you have had for those many long years should get notice.... and if I were one of those clients I would want to hear it from YOU personally... I assume that you are in meetings with them to talk about what you are doing for them.... at the end just bring up that you are planning to retire in the next few weeks/months/projects...


I will throw something out... are you interested in part time IOW, you have a few clients that you really like and their projects are interesting etc... so it could be something you do for awhile...

 

[Culture]

Thanks in part to the feedback here, I decided to send a nice e-mail to all my clients letting them know that I will stop taking new assignments in six weeks, and explaining that I am retiring. The response was very positive.

I have to agree that this was a much better choice than simply telling people that I was no longer taking new work whenever they called.