Think of where you are now in your business life. This is the present, now, or your current status quo. Now think about where you want to be in the future with respect to ownership and management transition. The future time may not be clearly defined in your mind. But that future is your business end game. It is okay if the business end game is unclear, but it is not okay for it to stay unclear for much longer. You see, our business end games set us up for the rest of our lives, and that can be a very long time for most of us. Consider some of these questions to help begin the discussion about your business end game.

Owners of successful closely held and family businesses need to focus attention on the management of all of their wealth.  For most owners, wealth comes from two primary sources: The value of your interests in closely held or family enterprises.  This wealth is, by definition, illiquid, for there are no well-organized markets for the sale […]

May Day, May 1st, was Friday, on the calendar, at least. And I did something I don’t think I’ve ever done. I took the day off and treated it like a Saturday. The idea is not original, but what I can say about it is that I feel great. See what I did and ask yourself if would be a good idea for you too.

Last week, I spoke on Unlocking Private Company Wealth before three audiences in New York, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas. My two key takeaways from the trip were referrals to two resources Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk, “Start with Why” and Brian Moran and Michael Linnington’s book The 12 Week Year.

In the previous post, we introduced two businessmen – Martin and Steve. Their businesses are worth about $2 million each. Martin and Steve have taken two different paths in their treatment of the earnings of their businesses, and have widely different business end games and retirement prospects as a result. In this post, we discuss the concepts of “return on labor” and “return on capital” and why they are important concepts for business owners to understand when planning for their business end games.

Typically, I write about what I refer to as “successful closely held and family businesses” that have minimum values on the order of $5-10 million or more, and often, much more. But many small businesses don’t have and may never have had such levels of value. Today’s post focuses on two baby boomer small business owners, Martin and Steve, whose businesses are worth about $2 million each. Martin and Steve have taken two different paths in their treatment of the earnings of their businesses, and have widely different business end games and retirement prospects as a result.

In our prior post, we discussed favorable reasons why businesses change hands. In this post, we take a look at the other side of the coin – the not-so-favorable reasons why businesses change hands. Unfortunately, many businesses sell or change hands under less favorable, even downright unfavorable, circumstances. The list of unfavorable circumstances that cause a business transfer is longer than the list of favorable reasons. Let’s take a look at some of these not-so-favorable reasons.

Businesses change hands for a variety of reasons, only a few of which might be considered positive from the viewpoint of selling owners. This post examines three reasons and provides commentary on the necessity of being READY for sale – even when/if your business is not up for sale.

As we embark on addressing the question, Is Your Business READY for Sale?, let’s talk about the ideal time to sell a business. As it turns out, this is an important question.

Recent surveys suggest that a large number of Americans and baby boomers do not have wills or a healthcare proxy, and often wills lag personal situations and desires. Conversations can be difficult, and the difficulties of an already difficult situation are compounded. However, unplanned situations happen. Consider these steps to do something, providing structure within which you can work.