6 tips for talking about your business transition
Successful business owners are typically visionaries. They have the ability to look ahead, anticipate both threats and opportunities and take action accordingly. Just as typically, the eventuality they will one day leave their companies can be a blind spot. Even owners who recognize they will put their companies in the hands of successors “someday” often […]
Business Succession Consultants
Succession planning, business transition planning, business succession planning and exit planning: These are just a few of the terms that business owners see in messages, posts, and newsletters from their CPAs, attorneys, investment advisors, life insurance agents, business consultants, business brokers, and even their bankers. Unlike business succession consultants, many of these professionals have added […]
Top Four Assumptions Business Owners Make About Succession Planning
I’ve written before about why it’s never too early to start business succession planning. Yet, even when owners recognize the benefits of planning for the transition of their companies well in advance of any transfer, some continue to put it off. Why? In my work with business owners, my team and I identified four assumptions […]
Business Transition Strategies
The first question that owners typically think about when they begin to look ahead to leaving their companies in a successor’s hands is some variation of How much is my business worth? or How much cash do I want or need when I leave? How much . . . ? is a critically important question, […]
Elizabeth Ledoux Podcast Interview LoCO Think Tank
Curt Bear, host of the podcast The LoCo Experience,* sat down with Elizabeth Ledoux to talk about her journey from engineering student at the Colorado School of Mines to systems designer for medical and dental practices; from petroleum engineer and mom of two to student of human behavior; from founder of an international consultancy to […]
Five Communication Tips for Owners Contemplating Business Transitions
The playwright George Bernard Shaw said, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” Statistics from family businesses in transition certainly agree. The Family Business Institute cites a 2005 Canadian Federation of Independent Business survey that found that “…while 74% of the senior generation leaders report there is a […]
How To Go From Pushy Parent to Inspiring Leader in Your Family Business
When addressing the topic of resolving conflict in family businesses, my team and I often discuss the common points of friction between parents and children primarily during the transition from one generation to the next. In this article (How To Go From Pushy Parent to Inspiring Leader in Your Family Business), let’s take a broader […]
Family Business Transition to the Second Generation
Do you own a business that you’d like your children to run one day but just haven’t put a transition plan in writing? If so, you are not alone. According to a recent survey of 230 family business leaders in Mexico, Canada, and the U.S., you are in the 66% of owners who have not […]
4 Ways To Prepare Your Child To Become Your Successor
If you have been concerned only about your child’s readiness to run your business, start to consider your readiness: Are you prepared to do what you need to do to help your child succeed as an owner? Here are 4 Ways To Prepare Your Child To Become Your Successor: Build a Curriculum It is not at all uncommon for owners to get stuck when […]