Planning for Business Owners

Growing a business is a difficult undertaking today as business owners must confront a myriad of tax laws and regulations while trying to effectively create products or services, manage their employees, develop and cultivate clients, and do so profitably.

Often times business owners are too absorbed in their business to tend to their own financial needs, and they may also overlook key planning considerations that could help their business grow and prosper. Also, the livelihood of a business owner can be imperiled when unexpected events occur that adversely affect the bottom line of the business.

Business Owner Needs

Retirement

For many business owners, their business is their primary retirement asset. After many years of building a successful business they expect to convert it to an income for retirement by selling it. If they are relying upon the business as their sole means of retirement they run the risk that it may not attain the value needed to produce the needed income.

Businesses can fail. Businesses can lose value in certain economic cycles. The timing is not always right to sell a business. Many times the true value of the business lies in the talents and good will of the business owner who won’t be around to run the business after he retires.

Business owners today must prepare for retirement with the same level of diversification recommended for any retirement plan. Business owners have access to a number of qualified and nonqualified retirement plan options that can provide a cornerstone for their retirement income needs.

Business Succession

When a business partner dies, the business loses a valuable asset and could suffer in the short term. The long term issue for surviving business owners is whether the business can survive when the partner’s family members show up for their interest in the business.

For the families of business partners, the business interest is often their biggest asset and they become the rightful owner of that interest at the death of the partner. They will want to receive their share of the business, either in direct compensation or through their participation as an active partner in the business.

If the surviving partner does not have the capital to compensate the family for their share, their options are limited and not very attractive. A business succession plan can provide for the orderly transfer of the business interest from the deceased’s family to the business.

Increasing Valuation

Prior to selling a company it is imperative to identify and assess what the company is worth. If the business is sold will the proceeds be enough to cover the owner’s lifestyle into and throughout his or her retirement?

Rather than guessing, Wealth Ops, LLC works directly with business owners to assess how much their company is worth. After this initial assessment, a roadmap is created with the owner and his/her leadership team to lay out the necessary steps to take to increase the valuation.

Areas of the company that are included in the assessment and roadmap include reviewing the following:

• Planning
• Leadership
• Sales
• Marketing
• People
• Operations
• Finance
• Legal