When Is Our Next Turning Point Breakfast?

Is Your Closely Held or Family Business at a Turning Point and Do You Need to Talk?

Turning Point Sign

In this post, I discuss a very important breakfast I had some time ago with a client and friend of many years who is second generation chairman, CEO, and lead family member of a very successful, third-generation family business. That breakfast served as a turning point for him and his business and the family.

Kress v. U.S. Denies S Corporation Premium and Accepts Tax-Affecting

The issue of a premium for an S corporation at the enterprise level has been tried in a tax case, and the conclusion is none. This case marks a virtually complete valuation victory for the taxpayer. It also marks a threshold in the exhausting controversy over tax-affecting tax pass-through entities and applying artificial S corporation premiums when appraising S corporations (or other pass-through entities). This post provides an extensive review of the case.

A Problem: Fixed Price Buy-Sell Agreements

The Solution Lies in a Valuation Process

Fixed price buy-sell agreement pricing mechanisms are not good and seldom work. The problems with these agreements can be “fixed” if the parties focus on the future and take steps today to solve future problems before they occur. In this post, I discuss two single appraiser processes to help solve these problems.

“Succession” and “Transition” Planning – More Than Notebooks on Your Shelf

Interview re: Upcoming Talk for Extraordinary Banking Conference

My topic at the Institute for Extraordinary Banking’s annual conference in Minneapolis next month relates to the softer side of what I normally talk about. Roxanne Emmerich of the Institute and the Emmerich Group interviews me as we warm up for the conference.

Do Business Owners “Know” the Value of Their Businesses?

Dangers of Thinking of a "Walk-Away Number" as the Value

Do business owners “know” the values of their businesses? And do they need help if and when they think about selling, either unexpectedly or as part of a plan? I answer these questions in this week’s post.

Where is the Boom in Business Sales by Aging Business Owners?

Are You Ready for Sale Anyhow?

More than a decade ago, Richard Jackim and Peter Christman wrote a book called The $10 Trillion Opportunity. In the book, the authors forecasted massive future sales of private businesses because of the aging of baby boomer business owners. They were right in that there were millions of aging business owners. However, they were early in their prediction of a tsunami of private company sales by those baby boomer owners. Now, more than ever, business owners should be preparing themselves, and their businesses, for the next transaction wave.

Interim Time: The Time Between Now and a Future Sale of a Business

Use Interim Time Wisely to Prepare Businesses and Owners for Ultimate Sale

Is business ownership a binary thing? Do we either own our businesses or not? The binary notion leads business owners to think either in terms of the status quo or of an eventual sale of the business. The truth is that between the two bookends of status quo and an eventual third-party sale are many possibilities for creating shareholder liquidity and diversification and facilitating both ownership and management transition

Public Companies Highlight Management Succession Issues

Private Companies Have Growing Issues

Planning for management succession has been a recurring topic on this blog. This week, the succession news at Disney is that Robert Iger, chairman and CEO, will stay on for at least an additional year while the Company seeks a replacement. This posts uses the example of Disney to highlight the critical management succession issue for all companies, both public and private.