“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”
-Benjamin Franklin
Business owners are busy by people, at times out of necessity and others by choice. With so much to do who has time to reflect and plan, especially if it’s for a sale, retirement or other transition from their business? One’s successful company, providing an owner a very strong element of their identity, has sustained them, their families and the markets they serve for a very long time. Planning a transition can be very difficult emotionally and economically but will make the difference between a satisfactory and unsatisfactory end to this process.
There are a multitude of reasons why most businesses listed for sale do not sell, and why most successions are not successful, most originating with failure to formulate a plan. With so much at stake you would think every business owner would realize the importance of exit or succession planning, but in truth most do not. By the time they realize their error, business value has frequently been negatively impacted, they are forced to recalibrate their expectations, or worse yet, they realize their business holds little in way of transferable value.
We help educate business owners on the importance of this kind of planning. Once they understand the lack of a plan can put everything at risk, their thinking begins to change. We also show how to begin without requiring a large commitment of time, money or other resources.
Our 7-Step process is designed to be comprehensive but not burdensome. Our consultants coordinate input from the business owner and their team of trusted accounting, legal, financial advisors. This helps minimize the need for the owner to carve out time they may not have while fully leveraging the expertise of others.
