Succession Planning
Is your succession plan an actual plan, or something to be left to the mercy of the courts, your other business partners, and that obnoxious son-in-law?
Fees
Fees are taken on a case by case basis depending on many factors that go into this type of planning. After we have a thorough meeting and I get an understanding of your goals and the obstacles we have to overcome, I will quote your fees and that quote is firm for 30 days.
In 2005 I read an article from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) discussing the topic of succession planning and what it’s own members have done for their own succession planning. The article quoted a 2004 survey that only 19% of it’s members have a written succession plan. I thought that number seemed way too low, so I re-read the article & sure enough, it was only 19%. As I re-read the article, I saw that 22% of it’s members felt that they didn’t need a succession plan. Talk about an ostrich sticking it’s head in the sand!!! Numbers like these indicated why only a handful of businesses survive into the third generation. What a shame to have your life’s work more than likely gone within a generation.
If you read the fine print in an annual report, you will see that there are many things that big corporations do for their own succession planning. Maybe you’re not as big as General Electric, but I bet you planning the future of your business is a whole lot more important to your family than what GE does.
So what should I do?
Let’s plan for the future. Tell me what you want to happen, whom you want it to happen (or in case of that pesky son-in-law, don’t want it to happen). What are the threats to your plan? Is it taxes, fairness to non-owner children, minority business owners, or the wrong type of corporate structure?
As this plan is being prepared, we will include (or find) your CPA and attorney. I used the example of GE. I can promise you that they use a team of people when planning their future accountants, attorneys, bankers, etc. You probably don’t need as many people, but still deserve the same comprehensive planning that comes from involving a team of people focused on your dreams and desires.