How to leave your shareholders behind with style when going on Vacation from Empire Avenue?
Going on vacation is a blessing. Vacation is a luxury, isn’t it? Still I see a lot of players complaining about their stock price dropping as soon as they get back. What? Didn’t have a good time? Who cares about your dividends and stock price?
OK, maybe your shareholders do. And if they don’t they would have sold you while you were at the beach drinking tequila. Shareholders have a right to know when you are going to take a vacation and when you are coming back. Don’t they? Or is it what you do, too private?
Shareholders will notice your absence on Empire Avenue; as soon as your online activity slows down, your dividend and stock price will drop. Will you leave your shareholders behind guessing why you are sliding? The most impolite thing to do when going on vacation is not to inform your shareholders. Unless your vacation is filled with an equal amount of online activity like uploading your thousands of vacation photo’s to Flickr. In that case, don’t tell anybody you are on a vacation. Your dividend will stay high and everybody is happy.
Breaking away from Empire Avenue - choose a strategy
If you are going on a real vacation, meaning zero activity online, your dividend and share price will drop. No matter what. You might as well drop in style and inform your shareholders, of what I think they have a right to know, you are planning to do. When will you be back, for how long will you be gone. Should they hold you or not? If you are only going away for a week, you could ask your shareholders to hold you. If you are going away for a serious amount of time, let your shareholders know. All in case of zero activity that is. Not letting your shareholders know could even damage your EAv reputation. They will see you ‘in the red’ day in day out in the ticker tape, but if they know why, it saves them worries.
Is it fair to ask your shareholders not to sell you?
Yes and no. It depends on the duration of your absence. If your online activity is zero for one week, you could of course ask your shareholders to hold. You can put that in your bio so shareholders know where they stand. If your online activity is zero for a duration of, lets say, several weeks, you might as well tell your shareholders to sell you – but keep 1 share – so they can be informed the moment you are back, using a shareholder e-mail sent out.
I see a lot of people taking the welfare trip telling vacationers ‘no worry, I will hold you’. This is NOT helping, it is in fact holding you back. Why? Because your dividend will drop for sure if you are not active only, but if shareholders keep your stock, your share price will stay high. At the moment you come back, you will find your dividend low and your stock price high, who is going to buy you then? Therefore, holding on to shares of somebody going on a vacation, is not helping at all. You might as well take the dive and leave in style. That is, help your stock holders by letting them sell you (you are all doing this for your shareholders aren’t you?), ask them to keep 1 share to be able to inform then on your return and then, on return, politely ask to buy you back, just after a few days of online activity, so they can see the proof of your return.
Whatever you do, it is advised to not use the Vacation mode that Empire Avenue offers. It will show your shareholders that you are not paying out any dividend and that doesn’t make you trustworthy. In other cases you might think of a ‘suspend your account’ mode, and plan on how to come back. More about that later.
Summary
- leaving your shareholders behind uninformed can damage your EAv trustworthiness, other way around – informing them ads to your credibility. Your reputation is worth more than your stock.
- make a happening about going and leaving, it is a game, taking a dive is too
- on coming back, work a few days on your dividend first and then invite your (1-share) shareholders to buy you back
- if this all sounds to complicated and you don’t want curvy stats – hire a pro to manage your account
- travel light
Written by: Elza van Swieten – (e)CONFLUENCE
