If you are a business owner, you probably think about employees, customers, vendors, revenue, and profits on a daily basis. Any one area could keep you on your toes each day, right?
With so much to think about and do, who has time to think about an exit strategy?
I have witnessed occasions when an owner gets divorced and all of a sudden that owner’s stake in the company has to be divided or liquidated, when an owner passes away suddenly and no one really knows what to do with the business, or there are disagreements over who really owns the business.
The business owner needs to design and sign an agreement early in the business, and then continue to revisit it as the business expands, partners or other family members enter the business, or there are other major changes to the business. I assist owners get their Exit/Succession strategies in place so they can be confident that their legacies will be sustained.
Not only have I worked with many private and family business owners, but I have also been involved with my own family’s business, Consolidated Pension Consultants. This is where I learned first-hand from my dad how to motivate a team, how to cold call, how to provide customers with the best service possible. It was amazing to see this man not only as my father, but as a mentor. Although I learned many things from my dad, I also learned a lot by seeing how businesses handled the transition from one owner to another. Some went smoothly; other failed miserably.
In the middle of this mentoring, it was my turn to join the Army (my draft # was ‘6’). While I was in the middle of my tour of duty, my dad passed away suddenly. His death was a shock to everyone. But the family business moved forward because there was an exit plan in place between him and my uncle, who was a co-owner of the business with my dad. Their employees and customers were comfortable with the fact that the leadership of the business was in place and undisputed.
When I finished my tour of duty a couple years later, I came back to the family business where I continued to be mentored by my uncle. While I saw changes happening to our family business, I also saw changes happening to other family businesses. As the generations continued to get older, the younger generation began to take more control of their respective businesses. Again I saw some of those businesses successfully transition to the next generation, while others did not.
Not only did we counsel our clients on pension plans for their businesses, but we also provided estate planning assistance. I took a very personal approach with my clients, who didn’t always know what their retirement future would look like.
All of these experiences helped me to see that having a comprehensive succession planning strategy was critical for a business. I saw it in other businesses and lived through it within my family’s business. It is about letting owners fulfill their dreams and plan for the future with their family members and successors. They need to face the challenge and think about the endgame.
The complete article can be found in Harry’s blog at

http://harrymccabe.com/first-hand-experience-makes-the-difference-when-advising-clients/