Business Succession Planning Article

Oakland Business Review: Business Succession Planning

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We are proud to announce that the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce recently featured us in the September issue of the Oakland Business Review special section entitled, Law Offices of Oakland.

The article highlights how business owners often overlook succession planning when they first start out their businesses.  The reality is you can’t plan your path without first determining your ultimate destination. Are you building a company to pass down to your children or employees? Are you creating a business to be sold to a stranger? Without understanding your intention, you can’t develop or implement strategies and actions necessary to reach your goals. Nearly 80% of business owners say they want their businesses to survive them. And yet less than 25% have any type of written succession plan or “exit strategy”.  The all too frequent result is that businesses devolve into conflict and chaos when a founder dies, becomes disabled, or when business partners fail to share the same vision. Decades of blood, sweat and sacrifice go quickly down the drain, all for want of a simple plan.

A well crafted succession plan is as important as determining the type of entity best suited for the company; utilizing contracts and agreements that accurately reflect and protect business decisions; and understanding the legal requirements and procedures necessary to retain the financial and legal protections a business entity provides.

By preparing for the ‘What Ifs’ before they happen, business succession planning improves the likelihood of your company weathering the storms and quakes of an uncertain world. […] Click here to read more.

Business Succession: Planning for the What If’s Before They Happen

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As Winston Churchill famously said, “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”  The statement is particularly relevant when considering why so many businesses fail to survive following the death, disability or retirement of a company founder or owner.

79% of small business owners say that they want to retain their business within the family; 70% of second generation family members share the hope of retaining the business within the family.  Yet only 30% of family-owned businesses survive into the second generation. Some 12% are still viable in the third generation, and only about 3% operate into the fourth generation or beyond. 

The lack of a clear, formal and well-defined business succession plan is most often cited as the primary reason a majority of small businesses don’t survive the death or disability of the founder.  Helping owners understand what they can do proactively to overcome those odds is one of my great passions as a business attorney. 

If your business currently lacks a customized succession plan, I invite you to attend one of two upcoming workshops I am presenting.  At the workshop, you’ll get to know the basic types of business succession plans, how they are funded, and why they are so critical to the long-term survival of your small business.

Further information and registration may be found on the programs page of this website: http://www.brianaripley.com/business-succession-workshop/