Value
What is the business worth today, and what would make it more valuable to a future owner?
Planning for business owners
Your business carries your family’s livelihood and much of what you have built. We help owners plan for it with the same care they put into running it: what it is worth, how it is protected, how you retire and who comes next.
Three phases
The work with an owner moves in three phases, at a pace that fits the business.
Phase 1
Assessment We look at the business and your personal finances side by side, and listen to what you want next.
Phase 2
Engagement We work through the options with you, and the trade-offs of each, until the plan fits your goals.
Phase 3
Implementation We put the chosen plan in place step by step, and revisit it as the business and your goals change.
Preparing the business and the family
Most owners spend years building a business and very little time planning how they will one day leave it. The decisions are connected: the value of the business shapes your retirement, your retirement shapes your family’s future, and the timing affects all of it.
We help you look at the whole picture together, early enough to keep your options open.
Recalibrate to your goals
Four questions every owner eventually faces. Planning starts by answering them on your terms.
Leaving the business
Do you want to sell, pass it to family, hand it to key employees or step back gradually?
Timing
When do you want to step away, and what needs to be true for that to happen?
Legacy
What should the business, and the wealth it created, mean for your family and your community?
What we plan for with owners
What is it worth?
A realistic sense of what your business is worth is the starting point for almost every other decision: how much protection it needs, what your retirement can rest on and what a sale or succession could look like. We help you understand the value and what drives it.
Protecting the business
A business depends on its people, and most of all on its owners. We look at how the business, your partners and your family would be affected if an owner died or could no longer work, and at the protection that could help.
Retirement planning for owners
Owners often put everything back into the business and plan their own retirement last. We help you plan for retirement in a way that fits how your business is set up.
Succession and exit planning
Whether the next owner is a family member, a key employee or an outside buyer, a good transition takes time. We help you prepare the business, your family and your own finances for it.
Independent auto dealers
Dealerships have their own rhythms and their own questions. Our dealer practice brings together financial professionals, tax specialists and estate-planning attorneys who focus on independent dealers.
Together they help protect the dealership, the dealer and the family behind it, and plan for the day the keys change hands.
Questions owners ask
When should I start planning my exit?
Earlier than most owners expect. Starting while you are still fully in charge keeps more options open, whatever you decide.
Is there a minimum size of business or assets?
No. There is no minimum asset level for working with us.
How is my advisor compensated?
It depends on the services you use. Your advisor explains it in your first conversations, before you decide anything.
Talk with an advisor who works with owners
A first conversation is a chance to describe your business and what you want next. No preparation needed.