Have you ever heard about the guy who sold his business for millions and thought “lucky sod?” I’ll bet if you’re honest with yourself, the answer is probably “yes.” Now, think about the last time you had a really incredible meal in someone’s home. Several courses, from hors d’oeuvres through dessert, perhaps even wine-paired. The consumption of the meal is the culmination of hours and hours of work: planning the menu, selecting the guest list, managing eating restrictions, shopping for ingredients, chopping, cutting, sautéing, grilling, baking, mixing, reducing… to name a few. With enough experience, and yes, some luck, the effort will pay off.
I love the work we do assisting our clients with Exit and Succession Planning, as it gives me an opportunity to meet and work with successful entrepreneurs who are all passionate about their respective businesses. At a recent presentation I gave in Las Vegas to thirty small to midsize business-owners on the subject of Business Continuity Planning, you could sense the importance of this topic to them. The questions asked during the presentation and the follow-up emails I received made it very clear this was a fundamental issue.
If you were to equate a great meal to a successful business, the eating of the meal is analogous to the exit of the business. Succession and Exit planning doesn’t just happen. It begins the same way: by first creating (economic) value over (sometimes) decades of hard labor. The parallels are all there: the right employees (ingredients) meticulously handled, the right business processes (culinary skills) consistently implemented, and the right equipment, branding, marketing, and product delivery (plating and presentation).
Whether the planned exit strategy is a sale of the business or a transfer to a family successor, The Myerson Wealth has the tools and experience to be your sous chef through the process.
And as always: Eat Well, Drink Well, Live Well!
May 26, 2016
