Lessons from a Successor Turned Transitioner with Laura Chiesman

What happens when the person who wrote the roadmap has to follow it twice?

In this episode, Elizabeth Ledoux sits down with Laura Chiesman, managing partner and financial advisor with Savant Wealth Management and Elizabeth’s co-author on It’s a Journey. Laura has experienced transition from both seats. As a successor, she purchased her firm from its original founder in 2015. As a transitioner, she later merged that firm with Savant Wealth Management, guided by the same process the two of them outline in the book.

Laura shares what made her first transition work: the pre-work the founder did before ever extending the invitation, the people-first approach that kept a longtime friendship intact, and the communication plan that reached team members, key clients, and pivotal vendors before anyone heard the news secondhand. She’s honest about the hard parts too, including the legal contingency work that forced her to plan for outcomes she hoped would never happen.

Then Laura switches to her advisor lens. With over 30 years in wealth management, she has seen owners fixate on a dollar amount with no rhyme or reason behind it, and she has taken calls from sellers a week before closing who have no idea what they’ll owe in taxes. Her answer is a financial planning process that projects the life you envision and takes you to a real number, so you can winnow out deals that don’t fit and negotiate with confidence for the ones that do.

Key takeaways from the conversation:

• A transition roadmap gives a successor confidence from the first conversation. Laura knew there was a path to follow, even for the biggest financial decision of her life.

• Freedom was Laura’s driver as a transitioner. Not freedom to stop working, but the option to choose on her own timeline while protecting the people who depend on her.

• Knowing your number changes the negotiation. If a deal covers what you actually need, fighting for the last dollar can cost you a good outcome and a good relationship.

• The net matters more than the headline price. Taxes, healthcare costs, and lifestyle expenses the business used to carry all come out of the planning process.

• Start early. Three years minimum for a third-party sale, five or more if you plan to mentor a successor, and be ready for the timeline to stretch.

Whether you’re a future successor, an owner beginning to think about your next adventure, or an advisor guiding clients through it, Laura’s story is proof that the process works on both sides of the table.

This conversation also touches on the newly released Second Edition of It’s a Journey, including a brand-new chapter on Transition 3.0 and how to bring people into the process. Details in the links below.

Chapters in this Episode:

00:00 – Welcome and introducing Laura Chiesman
02:10 – Laura’s background and the why behind her work
04:55 – Being a successor: buying the firm from its founder
07:33 – People first: caring for both sides of the deal
09:15 – The communication plan for team, clients, and vendors
10:59 – Attorneys, contingencies, and protecting both sides
12:14 – Becoming the transitioner: freedom and responsibility
16:07 – Visioning who to join with and finding the right fit
18:22 – Forks in the road: exploring every option fully
21:27 – The advisor hat: why knowing your number matters
26:00 – Negotiating with confidence instead of fighting for zeros
27:00 – Taxes, healthcare, and what the sale really nets you
29:35 – How early to start: three years, five years, or more
33:36 – Bringing your trusted team along the way
35:39 – What’s new in the Second Edition and Transition 3.0

Connect with Laura Chiesman:
Savant Wealth Management: https://savantwealth.com/

Connect with Elizabeth Ledoux and the Transition Strategists:
Website: https://transitionstrategists.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetransitionstrategists
Elizabeth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethledoux/
Transition Strategists on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/transitionstrategists/
Transition Strategists on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@transitionstrategists

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Our Sister Show: Your Next Gen Friend
Hosted by Andrea Carpenter, Your Next Gen Friend is for the next generation stepping into leadership in family and private businesses. If you’re a successor figuring out your path, this show is for you.

Website: https://yournextgenfriend.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournextgenfriend/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yournextgenfriend
Andrea on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreakcarpenter/
Spotify: https://yournextgenfriend.com/open-spotify
Apple Podcasts: https://yournextgenfriend.com/apple-podcast

Get Elizabeth Ledoux and Laura Chiesman’s latest book, “It’s A Journey: The MUST-HAVE Roadmap to Successful Succession Planning”: https://amzn.to/3oq2LQv

Lessons from a Successor Turned Transitioner with Laura Chiesman Transcript

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Hi everyone and welcome back to the Business Transition Roadmap. I’m Elizabeth Ledoux and today we are joined by just an incredible woman.

who has been through two transitions. So one is a successor and one is a transitioner. We’re gonna explore her experience and then also change hats where she can give you a little bit of background on some of the financial things to keep in mind as you start to navigate your transition. So you know succession planning doesn’t fail usually because

the idea was the wrong idea, but many times fails because there was no roadmap. There was no way and no roadmap in front of the person to actually understand what they wanted. So

I’d like to welcome back to our podcast today, Laura Cheesman, who’s the managing partner and financial advisor with Savant Wealth Management. She’s got over 30 years of wealth management experience, and she is a co-author with me of our book, It’s a Journey: The Must-Have Roadmap to Successful Succession Planning. She’s a certified financial planner and a certified divorce financial analyst. She’s got lots of credentials behind her.

Her and has helped many, many business owners and families navigate some of the toughest transitions of their lives. So, anyway, I’m just happy to welcome you, Laura, and so glad that we’re back here together.

Laura Chiesman:
Yes, thank you. It’s great to be here and to

talk have a great conversation about these various types of transitions. And I’m excited to share how I was able to work through my transitions using the process that we spent so much time outlining in our book and the years developing it beforehand. Very excited to be here. Thank you.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Absolutely.

Absolutely. So how about why don’t we start with you telling us just a little bit about yourself and kind of the why behind what you’re doing today.

Laura Chiesman:
Great, thank you. So, yes, as you mentioned, I’ve been in this same industry, really most of my working career with a couple of little outliers during young children part of my life. But other than that, just working in the financial services and wealth management and planning industry. It’s been a wonderful ride, still is, so I’m still actively doing that. And I worked with

The same company starting out in 2001 is where I landed and have continued my career and plan to finish my career with the same group, although we’ve morphed a few times. And I was involved in a transition in 2015, where I purchased the company from the original founder. And then about seven or eight years later, transitioned and merged with a larger firm with Savant Wealth Management, who I’m working with now. And we’ll we can talk more about that. But Jim basically used the process and Elizabeth coached me through both of those transitions, which was wonderful. but yeah, we had worked with with you and just so people know, you know, we were very intentional throughout the life of of our firm.

with strategic planning and process development. So it’s sort of really integral to my personality and the business the way it was built, which which helps. So to already be driven by by process and the roadmap type mindset, mapping out where you want to go and then how do you how to how to get there. So it was a a natural fit for the way we worked and and I that

You’re built that way. So, you know, the the book outlines that for people and then I was able to follow it and kind of proof proof positive of the of the success ’cause both my transitions were really successful, I’m happy to say. yeah. Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
That’s a big one. That’s a big one. Yeah.

And we were, you know, both Laura and I wrote the book together, and both of us have experienced the process and kind of navigating with the process. And it actually is it’s foundational in creating, I think, a successful transition. So anyway, why don’t we jump over to the first

transition

and just kinda talk a little bit about, you know, you’ve had the experience of being a successor and also a transitioner. So let’s talk about what was it like to be a successor at that time with the original founder.

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah, it was really a great experience. It was scary in the beginning. I guess all all of these transitions have a a l level of the unknown and and risk. So something I use in my financial planning work with people and projections is start with the knowns, work towards the unknowns. And I

got to jump into the process after a lot of work had already been done by the founder with with you, Elizabeth. So you all had mapped out a a nice offer from to in for me to join in the conversation about the possibility of me being the successor. You know, I didn’t know at the time all those conversations that were going on. So it was kind of nicely crafted before I was even brought into the conversation.

Which I discovered later. But walking, so that that gave me confidence from the beginning that there was a path for me to follow. I had work to do and I had decisions to make. But I had the roadmap, I mean, just to use that word, I had the roadmap to follow.

my path and and to come to that decision because it was probably definitely the biggest or maybe the second biggest since I transitioned again later, but up to that point by far the biggest financial decision I’d made in my life. And so

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
I enjoyed the process. I I was you know blown away by the initial conversation and offer to

can be you know, consider making that move. And then we walked very

strategically and step by step through through the thought process that I needed to follow. And I was very good friends and still am with the original founder. And so we did a good job of th of balance we cared about each other. We both cared, you know, deeply about the business and the clients and our team. So and we had worked together for a long time already. And I know that can be, you know, there’s ups and downs of both of that. You’re

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
You’re standing up for, you know, your side of the deal, plus really caring about the other person’s situation as well. So the whole people first approach in the beginning was very comfortable for me and really helped me stay on track. you know, I was one of those

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
people too, so I had to turn the mirror around, think about myself and how that was gonna affect me, my family, my team and and clients for the long run.

So it was it I wouldn’t even you know, there were twists and turns. I had to go out and you know, talk about financing with banks and I had a nice, you know, dealt with you all’s help, developed a story to tell to the banks and you know, walked walked through that and was successful finding some some help on the financial side and decided to sign those papers and take a big leap.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah,

yeah. A b a really big leap. And

Laura Chiesman:
Happy I did. Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
you know, yeah, thinking back to that time,

I think that the pre-work that was done by the prior owner was he he did a really good job of deciding what he wanted. So when his invitation came around to you, it

Laura Chiesman:
Yes.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
was much more clear than it would have been had he not have done that work, which I think then allowed you to come alongside him and walk down the road together. because that you know, no plan comes

comes out as you planned. And it doesn’t anytime. But yeah, in as small of things as a dinner party. If you have a plan, something can go wrong or go a different direction. And

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah. Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
but it gave you, as you navigated forward, it really gave you the opportunity to work together for the outcome that then you both wanted for clients and both wanted for the team. So I thought that was great.

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah,

yeah. It w it was really a great experience. And you know, we envisioning what we wanted for the team and clients really helped us craft conversations that were built upon the convers early conversations we had. We, you know, t talked about, you know, how it was, how it’s going to be, and then we were able to

I think really smoothly communicate that first to certain team members. We had we had a whole plan a communication plan around it, then to, you know, big clients or in pivotal vendors that we dealt with, you know, people that you didn’t want to be surprised or to hear about it secondhand and then, you know, worked our way through our entire population of of team members and clients and so yeah, it was it you know, it was a long

block it seemed like it went fast, but there was a lot to it and many steps and I don’t I should go back and look. I don’t know how long the actual build up took before we started signing on the dotted line, but

Elizabeth Ledoux:
It was a while. I

would say and you know, great thought. This is my memory from ’cause those that was quite a few years ago, but

It usually takes much longer than people in you know envision just because

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
going through not only communicating everything to everybody and getting prepared to do that so that you can manage, you know, their expectations and you know fears or whatever that might be. But the other part is I think people underestimate getting a an agreement done. and all the

Laura Chiesman:
Yes.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
details, you know, what happens if and what happens, you know, all of those things. There’s a lot of communication.

a lot of

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
legal you know back and forth that happens and really landing on something that you want.

Laura Chiesman:
Right. Yeah.

Yeah, I was thinking about the legal side. Tom and I, the founder and I had a

We l had an agreement how we wanted it to work. And that was all seemed very clear to us until we discovered we each had to get attorneys. And they were fantastic. And I used the same attorney in both of my transitions because he he’s so great. But it’s like every question, like I’m kind of looking at the bright side of the street always, and you have to think about what if things don’t go right and how to protect.

Each side has to protect themselves. And that was a that was probably

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
the hardest part for me was just having to dig into all these things that you know are very unlikely to happen. You sure hope they never do, but you still have to have those contingencies set up, documented, and agreed upon. And, you know, later,

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
once it’s all done, you’re really glad that you do have those because there’s nothing worse. It just like a a

your financial life, there’s nothing worse than having to figure things out live when the fur is flying, so to speak. So Right.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
when it’s not going well. Okay.

So so fast forward, you do well. Tom works with you, right? He’s still integral to the business for a period of time. you come to a point where enough years have passed that you’re starting to look at your next adventure. So

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
talk about, yeah, what happened then? How’d you decide that it was time to look at your next adventure?

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah, that was really interesting. almost from you know, from very early on, after I acquired the business, people were asking me, what you know, what’s what’s gonna happen next? What’s gonna happen when you’re not here? And then you know, originally it was a one hundred percent owner and then I was a hundred percent owner. So he faced those same kinds of questions and then, you know, it was me just owning the whole company with a a great, very skilled and long term team.

But I had to, you know, think that through early on. And as time went by and the indust there was, you know, there’s a lot of times there’s industry factors that lead towards you thinking more about it than you might have at other times. It’s happened to be and still is. there’s a lot of action in the mergers and acquisitions and the financial services industry right now. So we did get a lot of

outreaches from various companies. And you know, we had a nice size company, woman owner, certain level of type clients that and style of business that’s very popular. So we got a lot of calls and really honestly at first I never I was like, no thanks, no thanks, no thanks. I didn’t think about it at all. And then I started you know wanting to have freedom at least

The availability to have freedom when I wanted freedom. I’m really not there yet. I’m

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
not, you know, ready to be free of of work or what I’m doing because I love what I do. But I I could see that I really wanted to have the confidence and for my clients and team to know that if something were to happen, whether it was planned or unplanned, things things happen. And I’ve worked in this business long enough and with enough people to know that

as you said, things don’t always go as planned. So a contingency for me was that if something happens to me, I never wanted to leave behind a mess or uncertainty for the people that depend on me, whether that’s you know my family, my clients, or my team. So that’s really what guided me into that stage. And then I started talking to various firms. I had a really clear idea of

Who I wouldn’t work with, for sure.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
And and then the types of characteristics I would be looking for if I was ever to consider that. But I would say it was greatly bound by the idea of responsibility for the people

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
around me and the business itself. I I want it to go on beyond me. So

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yep. Yeah,

and it sounds like too yeah, that you wanted it to go on, you wanted to take care of your people, and that was part of your culture too, right? That’s what you all have always put as a high priority in your culture. but also having

To me, having the freedom, right, you use that word freedom, to make a choice when it was right for you and not be bound to the business because you had that responsibility of

Laura Chiesman:
Right.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
taking care of everybody. So kind of moving that right and giving yourself the option, the open optionality.

Laura Chiesman:
Right. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. So going through the process, was really a good visioning journey for me to really think about what might be possible and who who I would want to come along and who we would want to be going towards and and joining with. And so when I met,

the people from Savant, wealth management who I’m with now. It was yeah, we had a lot of details to work through, but it from the beginning I I had already framed in at least the type of who’s I would want to be aligned with. And we were so

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
well matched there that really it was working on

on the details and and then deciding, you know, is it the right time for me to do it? And that’s a yeah, that’s not eas that’s not an easy decision, but you know it’s hard.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
No, no. And

yeah, it is hard in it. And I remember ’cause

I know you were not a part of what, you know, the original founder did as far as the beginning planning, but

Laura Chiesman:
Mm-hmm.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
I remember yeah, sitting here together and us walking through the objectives and what you wanted to achieve and what was important for you and for your

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
team and for the people that were around you and for your clients and you know

Laura Chiesman:
Right.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
so many times I think owner founders, owners, they they try to take care of everybody.

And so I remember walking through that and you did have a you had a good roadmap starting into that and and you had kind of a plan A, plan B also, trying

Laura Chiesman:
Right.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
to and there was a period of time where you were

Say walking down the roadmap, right? The planning was kind of in place. And then there part of the roadmap is to discover more of what you want. So I remember you walking down this path

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
almost in a discovery process. And you would bounce like, maybe this, and then back to the other one. And yeah, trying to figure out what’s the right one for you and for your company and for your team.

Laura Chiesman:
Right. Yeah.

Yeah, and having you know, working through that so that eventually you come to some very definitive kind of forks in the road and you have to make a decision. And I don’t think I would be as happy today if I hadn’t explored fully the the other options. You know, there’s do

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
nothing, there’s, you know, internal

external you know you yeah but you can just let it string on to see what happens or make a you know proactive decision to do nothing and let people figure it out. you know, I’m sure some businesses

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Right.

Laura Chiesman:
do that. Maybe it turns out great. That wasn’t comfortable for me. But

inertia can be compelling sometimes too. So or why do I have to figure

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yes.

Laura Chiesman:
this out now? But making making the decisions and really really looking down each of those possibilities at a pretty deep level and taking the time, not being rushed. It was nice I started early, I think.

thinking about it before I really ever had any intention of moving forward. It was probably years before that, you know, you and I start talking about these things on in my you know story. And so then when it became more real and there were real decisions to make, I’d already had a good amount of time and effort put into the process.

And you know, I

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
we’ve realized there are some times where things happen well, once they start happening, they happen fast. So yeah, right.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
They did happen very fast actually. Yeah. Yeah.

But it did give you time to have some conversations with some people and

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah. Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
to actually I sometimes I think of as fishing conversations, you know, to

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
to inquire in a way about what’s gonna be best for others. instead of making those assumptions, right? So having a little bit of time to have some of those conversations.

Laura Chiesman:
Yep. Yes, yes, that was a good good part of the process. And I feel good, you know, looking back, at how it all went and the steps taken. I benefited from the first transition and walking through and experiencing that. The second one built upon that. So

I feel I’ve witnessed a lot of transitions. in my younger years I bought a few small businesses and tried things out. And then, you know, this got expanded in this first transition and then and then this one that I’ve gone through now. It’s really interesting to see. They’re all different, but if you put these mile markers in place and the steps and the process to follow, you can follow that same process in

multiple types of businesses, sizes of businesses, personalities. I mean it’s not dependent on any of those individualized characteristics of the business. And you know,

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
I’ve seen that. So it’s yeah, it’s really

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

I love it. So let’s switch hats a little bit

so about five years ago you and I co authored the book It’s a Journey. And

Laura Chiesman:
Yes.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
yeah, recently, probably I don’t know, six months or so ago, started working on our second edition. So our second edition I’m so excited to have it out and have it,

Laura Chiesman:
Me to

Elizabeth Ledoux:
you know, yeah, have it available with some really great updates in it.

Laura Chiesman:
Yes.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Y yeah, about some new thinking that we’ve had. And

Laura Chiesman:
Mm-hmm.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
yeah, so

With that from your advisor hat, one of the big deals.

About a transition is really making sure, I think, that you understand what you’re trying to achieve, your objectives, and you know, after the business. So not only during it while you’re navigating, like you just gave a great example of navigating, but

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
you know, what does it look like after a transaction and making sure that

You have enough, enough money, and in my get in my perspective, also enough self-purpose, enough reason for getting out of bed, but so that you can enjoy that part of your life and enjoy that next adventure.

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah. Right.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
What what do you see when you work with business owners who are transitioning from that perspective? What do you see most often?

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah, it can be I think two direct two things happen. Some people aren’t focused on the amount. They’re just you know, focused on which I kind of like in the beginning, focusing on why they wanna do it, what they wanna do, what what are they selling, and they don’t always know the number that they’re shooting for. And early you don’t know what the market is, perhaps. you’re just kind of walking through the process.

And then on the other hand, some people get very fixated on a certain dollar amount. And it may be for no particular rhyme or reason. It’s a number of zeros that feels right or feels feels good. And that can be true, you know, business transition also for retirement in general. So the planning is similar. I approach the planning in a similar way when people are looking at selling their business or buying a business as well, you know, having a financial model.

Around that. So if you walk through a general financial planning process projecting what you’re going to need to live life the way you envision it going forward, then that inevitably takes you to a number. And then you I I think it’s it’s useful in a couple of ways. It gives you the confidence of knowing what you’re shooting for, and it can help you

psychologically, I think, in the negotiation process, if you know that the number that you need is within the range of the price points that are available to you or that you’re look that you’re looking for. I mean you can have someone call you up, you can knock out some deals pretty quickly or knock them off the table, which I think is, I don’t know if it’s

more than half the battle is sifting out deals that don’t work for you. So having, you know, not only the characteristics you’re looking for, as we talked about before, but also the number that you’re looking for. You can winnow through the ones that aren’t going to be a fit for you. And then go forward with confidence, negotiating for what you need to live your life the way you envision it. And that isn’t always just more, more, more. There’s a number that will get you

where you want to go, support your family, leave behind, you know, legacies, whatever it is that’s important to you. So I think it’s that questioning of yourself and exploration of where you want to go and end up is really important. And it fits pretty naturally along with that visioning of your business. So it’s just it’s a slots right into that. And

something else I’ve seen is that you know it can become a you know a battle of wills at some point in these negotiations and you might be fighting unnecessarily for you know the extra can’t pick your zeros but number of zeros but you

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
know it’s it you’re gonna lose a deal because you’re not getting this exact number you look for that you’re looking for.

But if you’ve documented what you really need and that extra is just extra, and otherwise the deal is perfect for you, and you are gonna get everything you need to go forward and live the life you want, then you know why lose a deal or you know, sour a relationship because you’re fighting just just for the sake of of that last dollar. Or

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
on the other hand, you might really need that last dollar and then don’t take a deal.

That is not gonna carry you through. Because as you mentioned earlier, Elizabeth, you know, you don’t wanna settle for something and then find out later be because you hadn’t done good financial projection work that it’s not enough for you. Then what are you gonna do? You know, you just sold your your moneymaker and now you’re off looking for the next thing to do, which yeah, you might want looking for the next thing to do is okay, but maybe not because you have to.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
I know.

I was gonna say by design, you know, many many

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah, that’s okay.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
owners will will say, gee, I think I’m gonna have a liquidity event so I can take some money and then go do something that I’m also interested in, but have

Laura Chiesman:
Exactly.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
the money to invest and the money to do it, and then that’s an exciting next adventure versus yeah, and you know, I think they all kinda if you take a holistic approach to an owner.

making a transaction and a transition out of their business there there are

A variety of you know transitions that happen. There’s the job transition, the decision governance making kind of transition, and then there’s the actual transaction. and each one of those provides something different to the owner, right? Whether it’s emotionally or you know, or if it’s financially as far as money is concerned.

As you navigate that, th what the business does, how your life works, how much money you have, when you’re a private business owner, those are all meshed together. So pulling

Laura Chiesman:
Right. Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
them apart is really an interesting process, which yeah, again, usually takes some time.

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah. Yeah. Right.

And you know, walking through the financial plan, if you run scenarios about different methodologies of payout, let’s say how are you gonna get paid at what point, you know, the tax ramifications bubble up. And sometimes you

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Right.

Laura Chiesman:
know, there’s lots I’ve had people call me, you know, I’m yeah, I’m closing on something

in a week and I’m just wondering if you can tell me how much taxes I’m gonna owe. I mean they’re literally selling some of their business. Like, well you might want to have thought about that a little earlier, but let’s get to work and see what we can figure out. because you know that that it’s really the net net that hits your pocket that’s going to us carry you through the next stage and your next adventure as we like to call it. So so yeah that that planning

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
process bubbles that up to the top. It

you know, bubbles up other things you need to think about, like how healthcare costs. You know, if you’re selling and you’re getting out of the business, that’s been paying certain lifestyle or retirement accounts, things like that, paying for your car, you know, all these things that there’s different financial outcomes from the sale that might not be contemplated unless you dig into this planning process.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah, yeah. So okay, so just we’re close to our time to having to wrap up.

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
In in your experience, right, both as a successor, transitioner in two different transactions, and then also from your advisor perspective in that lens, when you think about

someone who’s a business owner starting to navigate, how what’s the minimum number of what’s the minimum time that you would recommend they start to think about this?

Laura Chiesman:
You know, I I think more times better. And even if high level questions you could think about even early on, you know, there’s a concept of kind of build it build to sell type approach. So you sometimes early on you can think about what would your exit plan be before you’re even ready to do that. But you know, I like kind of the three year feeling feels right to me. it gives you time to if you need to pull things in order, like

have processes you know, it’s always great to have good good financials, good processes and procedures that are documented. s backup team, you’ll have your team in good shape. You know, these are all things that feed into a good make you a attractive acquisition. So

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Chiesman:
I think that I don’t know, what do what do you think? Is three years feels good to me, but

Elizabeth Ledoux:
I think you know, I think if you’re I think if you’re fairly certain that you’re gonna sell to a third party, I think three years is a great

I think that’s a great number to look at. and I I just went to I just w had coffee with a pretty good friend of mine who now is getting inquiries about her company. And she’s done no planning. So it the inquiries are coming and she is unsure whether to entertain them, not entertain them,

Laura Chiesman:
Right.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
what to do with them. She hasn’t thought about if she’s ready or when she might be ready or how much she needs and you know, all

Laura Chiesman:
Right.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
of those questions are still on the table for her.

So I think three years if you’re considering that direction and

I think, you know, going back to your as a successor, I think having the transitioner around for a little longer is a great thing. So if you can

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah. Right?

Elizabeth Ledoux:
consider if you’re thinking about having a successor, even if you don’t know the successor yet, like I started my transition plan almost five years ago, met my trend met my successor two

Laura Chiesman:
Right.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
years later. Now we’re three years into it.

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
My timeline was seven years, but now I’m thinking, well, you know, it could be another three or so,

Laura Chiesman:
Mm-hmm.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
so that you know, she’s really ready and I’m really ready. So what looked good as a five or so seven year plan probably is gonna turn into a ten year. So if you’re

Laura Chiesman:
Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
thinking about mentoring and wanting to stay a little bit, I’m thinking five or more years to start that.

Laura Chiesman:
Yeah.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
And then navigate, you can always go to a third party sale. You can always go that direction.

Laura Chiesman:
Yes. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. There’s the planning of the transition and the conversations with your successor and laying out the financial plan. And then yeah, the transition itself could take a long time. And as you say, you’re gonna pivot during that process too. It might go faster, it might go slower.

And I think if you have the foundation of all the thinking in place and your roadmap set, then then you can make changes as like as as needed as it comes along.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

And then one thing that I just remembered, Laura, that I think is also valuable for an owner to be able to do is I believe that as you were navigating the direction and had some different people that you were considering, you know, external people that you were considering and et cetera,

You had your trusted team around you that you were able to think with and they gave you their perspective and they weren’t surprised. They were kind of with you along the way. So I think that was valuable, you know, not to bring them in at the last minute, but also to have people inside your company you could trust.

Laura Chiesman:
Mm.

Yeah. Yeah. I think that is really important and that bears a lot of thought. You know, if I was doing it over, I might have brought a few more people in earlier. and, you know, you and I talked about that and I p I picked a path. but but yeah, it’s it’s really great to especially when you you have a a good longstanding trusted team to you know, they’re gonna be part of your success whether you stay or go. And

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
They’re

so important to the to the process and they’re important to you. Yeah. Most most times we really

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Absolutely.

Laura Chiesman:
care about about our team and how it all turns out. So I you know, whether I engaged everybody a appropriately as the way I might have doing it over again, I put a lot of a lot of my time was spent in what is the path going to be for the people who I was making these decisions for and I wanted it to be really beneficial for them. So

I you know, was able to put time into that because that that was one of the variables. Some things were pretty set in stone and some t co took a lot of thinking and a lot of decision making. And so I feel good about about

Elizabeth Ledoux:
Yeah, yeah.

Laura Chiesman:
being able to put that effort into it. Be intentional.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
That’s awesome.

Be intentional. Yeah. So, all right, l two things. One,

Yeah, what we just talked about here in the new edition, the second edition, we are we talked, there’s a whole new chapter on transition three point and the concept

Laura Chiesman:
Yes.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
behind that, which is you know how to bring in people and include them. So

Laura Chiesman:
Yes.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
we’re again excited to have that out there. And all

Laura Chiesman:
Yes.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
right, my last question for you is what as we wrap up, what one thing would you leave with our listeners?

One

most important thing.

Laura Chiesman:
boy, let’s see. I would say to not rush through the process if you don’t have to, to really take the time, honor yourself, all the work that’s gone into building your business, put you know, we put untold hours, time, we take risk.

through the years and building a business that’s you know really precious to us. And so give yourself the gift of walking through a good laid out process, get a coach and work through it with people who’ve done it before. And yes I’d say, you know

You mentioned before, you know, we spend a lot of time taking care of clients, taking care of team, taking care of others. And this is a such an important move, an important decision that you know you can take care of yours yourself and your own future as well and give give it its due during that time period so that you’re when you get to the end of end of that roadmap, you know that you’ve really considered all your options, thought about what’s important to you. And you know, part of that will be

all those other things we talked about that your team’s happy, your clients are happy and gonna stay and your business goes on. That’s that’s all very important stuff. So mapping mapping that out, not to overuse our our road terminology,

Elizabeth Ledoux:
No

Laura Chiesman:
but it it really works.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
It does,

it really works. And it’s yeah, it gives confidence and clarity to have a roadmap so that you know where you’re going. So gosh. Well Laura, thank you, thank you, thank you for joining us and just

Laura Chiesman:
Yes. Yep. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Thank you. Yes.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
so appreciative of you and all your experience. Thanks for being so transparent today.

Laura Chiesman:
Yes,

thank you. Thanks for guiding the conversation and thank you for all the all the work we’ve done together. I love it.

Elizabeth Ledoux:
I do too. So

yeah, in our show notes you’ll have more information so you can get in contact and touch base with Laura if you’d like to do that. And also, you know, there will be information about our new second edition of It’s a Journey. So hope that if you’re curious, you’ll reach out and grab a copy.

Laura Chiesman:
Yes.

Awesome. Wonderful. Thank you so much.

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The Business Transition Roadmap with Elizabeth Ledoux

How do communities thrive? When businesses experience healthy growth and transition. Join CEO of The Transition Strategists, Elizabeth Ledoux as she and her guests identify what makes a successful business transition roadmap. If you know you want to transition or exit your business “one day”, today is the right day to start planning. This show will give you the roadmap.

If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, you can check out other episodes here: Podcasts – The Transition Strategists