All us entrepreneurs know not every business is going to survive. But when a business that appears to be roaring with success shutters, it’s startling.

Customers are always left confused and thinking, “what happened? How did a great business go away?”

I felt the same way and was taken aback when I first heard about the legendary Harold’s Barbecue in South Atlanta was closing for good. My first thought on the closing of Harold’s was this has to be a vicious rumor. Turns out, it was not a bad rumor, just a run of the mill bad exit that can serve as a great lesson to others.

I didn’t know that at the time, so I picked up the phone and made a call to Harold’s right away. I knew Harold would not answer as he had peacefully passed away some time earlier. Yes, it should have been a telltale sign on the bad exit, but my head was ringing with thoughts such as, “this is ridiculous, Harold’s closing.” The barbecue joint was an institution since 1947 and almost from day one, it’s had a long line of customers winding outside the door everyday.

When Linda, my waitress for years, answered my call and hollered  “Harold’s,” I asked, “are you all closing?” She answered, “When we’re done Friday, we ain’t coming back.”

Her answer was the perfect definition of a bad exit, where the business locks the doors and everybody goes home.  No victory dance in the end zone. No big check to take to the bank. No security of a job tomorrow. A bad exit is always a shame and often more devastating than a bankruptcy for employees and customers because they don’t see it coming. Most of the bad exits like Harold’s are businesses that could have been passed to new generations or even been a regional enterprise with multiple locations. What happens to cause this train wreck of a bad exit is usually the sudden departure of the founder or leader.

Don’t be sad, there is good news about the bad exit: it doesn’t have to happen even if the owners bolts the scene. In fact, bad exits come in all types and sizes including everything from a Harold’s Barbecue dive to an InaComp, a multi-billion dollar enterprise with thousands of employees and customers, that told everyone on Friday that they would not be in business the following Monday morning. I’ve noticed when the big boys have bad exits, it creates bigger headlines, but I think the pain and loss are bigger for employees and customers too when business jewels like Harold’s closes its door. They are beloved more so than being any kind of brand and that is part of the problem in the bad exit deal.  Beloved is a special bond that can be broken. If you are beloved as a business, enjoy it because it probably won’t last long.

Here is why.

It’s a personal bond nailed very well by the famous southern journalist and New York Times bestseller Lewis Grizzard when he wrote, “I know Harold will go to heaven just for his cracklin’ cornbread.” While I’m sure Harold is in Heaven, we don’t have Harold’s BBQ in Atlanta, so here is how bad exits can be prevented. Harold’s from the start had all the makings of a great product and a bad exit.

First, Harold collected every penny at the cash register so there was never any need to have checks and balances for openings or closings, much less even a rudimentary inventory system. So when Harold was no longer with us, the business was wide open for the worst, that is nobody knew what to do or who to trust. They all trusted Harold. The first step to avoid a bad exit is to get the business to routinely open and close without the owner being there in any shape, form or fashion, and that includes email, phone, text, etc.

Harold’s other job was he was the only guy who literally turned the meat and knew when to do it. Don’t laugh, the low temperature, slow cooked meat was his most important asset. In fact, such an exceptional asset it overcame mediocre customer service, high priced platters, and the flat-out worst location next to a maximum-security federal penitentiary, way off the beaten path.

I think if Harold only knew his one real asset, meat perfection, he could have trained someone else to do it. You want to avoid a bad exit then sit down with your team and loyal customers and figure out what is the special but often hidden asset your company truly possesses.

In short, why do people fork money over for your product? If the owner is the only one “turning the meat” as in Harold’s case, you are begging for a bad exit. But if you want to have a great start to a good exit where you cash out, the business thrives and you ride off into the sunset, have others that can open and close your business everyday and figure out your special sauce, why your customers buy from you. In Harold’s case, it was his glorious, marbled meat. But as Linda said over the phone, “It ain’t coming back.”

Make sure your business comes back every day, with or without you.

Used with permission. Reach Cliff at [email protected]

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About Cliff Oxford

Cliff Oxford, who is founder of The Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs and writes The Next Level blog for the New York Times, started his career at U.P.S., where he developed a technologically advanced help-desk system that was recognized for saving the company more than $250 million in its first year. In 1995, he left U.P.S. to start STI Knowledge, an information technology company with offices in the United States, Britain, South Africa, India, Hong Kong and the Philippines that made the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America three years in a row. After selling the company, Mr. Oxford endowed Emory University’s executive M.B.A. program and created a fully accredited Entrepreneur MBA with Brenau University. More recently, he has started an education company, the Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs. Its mission is to encourage business economic development by helping business owners and CEOs thrive in fast growth. Used with permission.