Month: July 2016

Bicycle riders appreciate the importance of avoiding headwinds on a long ride, especially as they approach the end. A headwind causes a rider to either expend more effort or take more time to arrive at a destination. When a rider is already tired, neither option is appealing. A bike race and owning a business are

When business owners start to think about exiting their companies, the number of possible Exit Paths can seem limitless. In reality, there are only eight: 1. Transfer the company to family member(s).2. Sell the business to one or more key employees.3. Sell to employees using an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).4. Sell to one or

Few business owners relish spending money on something unnecessary. For most owners, hiring an expert to estimate the value of their companies falls into the unnecessary category. Thus, it is no surprise that owners typically respond to an Exit Planning Advisor’s recommendation to get an estimate of value for the company with some variation of, “Now?

Successful owners are usually optimistic people, somewhat averse to dwelling on the more unpleasant aspects of Business. Contemplating one’s demise certainly qualifies as an unpleasant aspect. Consequently, advisors tend to use a lot of softer phrasings when they talk about business continuity. They ask, “What happens if the owner ‘passes on’ or ‘leaves the scene?”‘

As business owners plan to exit their businesses, they must confront the challenge of incentivizing employees – specifically, management – to stay with the company after they have left. Having a strong established, and committed management team to take the reins once an owner has exited is becoming more of a prerequisite that a luxury

One of a business owner’s greatest challenges is to attract, motivate, and keep key employees. As owners approach the end of the marathon of exiting their business, often tired and distracted by everything they’ve done, they begin to assume that it is no longer worthwhile to keep and motivate key employees. However, keeping key employees

Both business owners and non-business-owning parents want to transfer a monetary legacy to their children, if possible. However, business owners are different in the tools they can use to transfer wealth. Whether you own a business or not, the fundamental questions are the same:1. How much wealth do you want to keep?2. How much wealth

Owners wishing to sell their business to management – specifically, key employees – face two unpleasant facts: Their employees have no money (most likely) and they cannot borrow any, at least not in sufficient quantities to cash out the owner. Thus, each transfer method described in this white paper uses either long-term installment buyout of