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Summary: What owners and family each consider fair can cause problems. This article addresses this concept.
If you’re like many business owners, your business plays a large role in supporting your family’s lifestyle. As you plan for your business’ future, you may run into questions about how to treat family members fairly in your plans. This is especially crucial if you have children who work in the business and children who do not work in the business.
... Read MoreIt seems obvious that a growing firm would be a marketable business – potentially attracting several buyers to the table. If so, the opposite should hold true: if your firm is struggling to repeat last year’s performance, your options as a seller will be few.
However, what I think is missing hereis the element of “Quality”. Maybe not in the “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” kind of way – which I highly recommend as a great read to every business person – rather in terms of the how and the why . First, how are you achieving growth... Read More
Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live and it is in your power. –Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Building a successful business likely took you years of deliberate planning. From your initial business plan to now, you’ve built something worth protecting and worthy of pride. When many owners reach the peak of their business success, they wonder where they go from there. Whether you’re approaching, at, or getting farther away from the peak of your success, the answer is likely the same: The next step is planning for the future of your business and your ownership.
The tricky part is making tim... Read More
As a business owner, you’re likely the most important person in your business. You’re probably the breadwinner for your family. Your employees rely on your leadership and success for their livelihood. A lot of people depend on you.
What would happen if, without warning, you were to die or become incapable of running the business?
Many business owners might answer that question by saying, “I have a Buy-Sell Agreement” (a written agreement that controls what happens to your stock following certain events, such as death or incapacitation). If you own a successful business, a Buy-Sell might not be enough. Experience shows that Buy-Sell Agreements only dictate to whom busines... Read More
Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live and it is in your power.
–Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Building a successful business likely took you years of deliberate planning. From your initial business plan to now, you’ve built something worth protecting and worthy of pride. When many owners reach the peak of their business success, they wonder where they go from there. Whether you’re approaching, at, or getting farther away from the peak of your success, the answer is likely... Read More
As a business owner, you’re likely the most important person in your business. You’re probably the breadwinner for your family. Your employees rely on your leadership and success for their livelihood. A lot of people depend on you.
What would happen if, without warning, you were to die or become incapable of running the business?
Many business owners might answer that question by saying, “I have a Buy-Sell Agreement” (a written agreement that controls what happens to your stock following certain events, such as death or incapacitation). If you own a successful business, a Buy-Sell might not be enough. Experience shows that Buy-Sell Agreements only dictate to whom business... Read More
Summary: Using a case study, this article shows how transferring ownership to employees can position owners to achieve many different goals. For many small-to-mid-market business owners, there are few things more important than maintaining control of the company, minimizing risks for the company, and rewarding the employees that make the company successful. Ownership transfers to the company’s most valuable employees can do all of these things with proper planning, but there is a caveat.
While it’s admirable for owners to try to reward their key employees with ownership, many owners want to do everything they can to receive maximum value during the process of transferring their o... Read More
There are many things for you to consider as you think about the future of your business ownership: When is the right time to move on? How much money will I need? How do I even sell this business? These questions dovetail into an important decision you’ll try to make early in the process of planning your future: Whom you’ll sell or transfer your ownership to.
At the end of the day, business owners can sell to two different types of buyers: insiders or outsiders (also referred to as “third parties”). There are different flavors of insiders (e.g., children, key employees, co-owners, and even ESOPs) and third parties (e.g., competitors, venture capitalists, private equity groups, st... Read More
By Dan Beenken, Program Director
Last month I introduced a new series you might call “Selling a Job vs. Marketing a Business.” The main point is that no one wants to buy a job, an enterprise that provides just enough for someone to be self- employed. Banks don’t want to finance these deals either. So, if you want to exit your company and get paid more than just the value of the assets, you can’t just have a job, you need to have a business. But what does that really mean?
One of the first signs that you have a business, is that you are profitable. It sounds simple – but a business broker I talked to recently estimated that nearly 40% of all businesses listed for... Read More
Summary: To build business value, many owners start by installing three important Value Drivers.
Building business value is a core reason you wake up and run your business every day. As your business grows in value, it can position you to find new clients; keep current clients happy; support your employees financially and intellectually; and provide a nest egg for yourself, your family, and any charitable organizations you work with.
Many business owners find that there’s a certain point at which they don’t know how to grow the business any larger. They’ve done everything they can think of, but the business plateaus. These plateaus can create big challenges for owners wh... Read More