As a private business owner, corporate & personal financial planning are interconnected. Your advisory team needs to have expertise on both sides. Providing integrated financial planning advice to the owners of closely-held corporations is our goal.
A good starting point is addressing the basics:
- Understanding what the value of your business is to a third party is valuable information whether you plan to sell or not. Understanding what the value of your business is to your family & your lifestyle is critical information. Seems straightforward – but the lack of understanding on this issue is where we see the most mistakes made.
- The owner’s unique objectives will drive the capital allocation strategy. These objectives will range from serial entrepreneur looking to ‘build, scale, and sell’ to the entrepreneur seeking to build a multigenerational business. The planning scenarios will be similar in some ways and very different in others.
- Regardless of timeframe, it will be valuable to articulate answers to the following questions:
- What is your desired departure or transition date out of the CEO role?
- What is the value that you require from the business net of taxes to be economically independent?
- Who are the individuals or entities to whom you would prefer to sell or transition the business to some day?
- Anticipate Trouble – this is not a glass half-empty lens, but rather anticipating the trouble spots with your plan will help drive efficient execution.
Having a plan will help frame your financial decisions inside and outside the business – leading to more optionality and better outcomes.
Separate from the financial plan and our role as financial planner, we may recommend the purchase of specific investment or insurance products or accounts. These product recommendations are not part of the financial plan and you are under no obligation to follow them. Financial Advisors do not provide specific tax/legal advice and this information should not be considered as such. You should always consult your tax/legal advisor regarding your own specific tax/legal situation.
