Your Exit From Your Company!

I read somewhere that over the next number of years, at least one in every four small businesses will be sued or threatened with a lawsuit.  The odds are great that it will come from within the company.   

Will your death, disability, or withdrawal cause a dispute?  In many cases it can come from not having communicated the exit or transition plan for the company.    

 Your Corporate Board of Directors  

 The Board of directors in your company is crucial to the short and long-term success of the company.  The board helps in the avoidance and resolution of disputes.  The board can help direct the company’s planning, officer selection and the compensation.  The board can help in dispute avoidance, dispute resolution and overall corporate management.   

Disputes, can come from compensation agreements, benefits, health co-pays, benefits paid.  These are many other ares which a dispute can occur.  The hope is that there is a board of directors to help with the resolution.   

 When the owner dies, becomes disabled or just wants out of their business, and there is no business continuation or a buy and sell, the risk of a dispute rises.  A buy and sell agreement will establish the rules in the event a trigger that sets off a change within the business.  Remaining partners will need to know what the value of the company stock will be sold for.  The surviving family will need to know what the value of the business is and what the family expects to do with the company values.  Without a solid written plan, there are unanswered questions and confusion.  Continue reading “Your Exit From Your Company!”

The Four Life Changes Of A Business Owner!

What is it that you think about the most as a business owner?   Chances are they are one of four things:

  • What if I don’t want to stay in business and I want to drop out?
  • What if I get sick, disabled, or die?
  • What if my key person (s) decides to leave me?
  •  What if I can’t increase and improve my cash flow (life blood of the business), or the economy crashes?  

Besides running the day to day of the business, and the stress that goes with this, the four items listed above are probably the biggest stressful thoughts business owners have.   Let’s break them down.

Why the typical business owner thinks about these issues, is because they know they put a lot of sweat, tears, money, time  into their business.  They have most of their wealth in the business,  and know that they have no way of extracting that wealth when these events happen!

What if I don’t’ want to do this any longer and just want to drop out? 

Think about it!  The business owner has most of their wealth and time tied into this business.  In most cases it is very difficult to just stop doing what they are doing, lock the front door and leave the responsibility, wealth and reputation behind.  They still need their wealth in the business to maintain their life style.

Business owners are human beings and sometimes they just get tired of doing what they are doing, they burn out.   Sometimes they feel they are trapped and living a life of desperation.  They are making a nice living, and seeking to make a great life  for themselves and their families.  Chances are when they started the business they were only looking for a place to go, a position, a paycheck, and with a little luck a dream. The stress of running a business can take its toll on the businessman and the family.

They need the wealth they have invested, but don’t have a way of selling the business at a reasonable price.   Can the business be sold to an outsider?  Or, is there someone inside the company who will buy the business?  If so, do they have the money?  Is there someone who would run the business while the owner keeps their hands in the business?  Or, do they liquidate it?   Many times, even if a business owner sells their business, they find that after the taxes and expenses there’s not enough capital at a guaranteed rate of return to produce the income needed to keep the business owner and their family in the lifestyle they been used to. Because of this factor, more stress is added to the business owner and their future income. Continue reading “The Four Life Changes Of A Business Owner!”