Plan to live happy

Business Succession and Retirement Planning

A good succession plan can secure a business owner’s legacy, and their retirement

Positive Cashflow = Less Stress = Business Growth = Scaling = Managed = Sold = Retirement

Three stages of succession planning

There’s a lot to preparing a business for a new owner. Too many businesses do just one of them – offer their business for sale. A more strategic approach will lead to better outcomes. It can seem overwhelming to some business owners, so we break it up into stages:

1. Forming an exit strategy
2. Getting the business ready for sale
3. Selling the business

What’s the role of the advisor?

Succession planning requires a wide range of skills. Generally a business owner will require the expertise of more than one single professional. As trusted advisors, we work with our clients and guide them through the succession planning process. Where other professional advisers are needed, e.g. lawyers or financial planners, we have a very good working relationship with a range of advisors.

1. Forming an exit strategy

Many business owners don’t realise that it takes a long time to prepare and sell a business. The less planning and quicker the sale normally leads to a more stressful exit, a lower price, and a messier handover. We will meet with you and agree on a plan and schedule to develop a robust strategy when the time comes to sell your business and move into retirement.

2. Getting the business ready for sale

Your business needs to be at its best when it goes to market. Things that you have been putting off that will be of benefit to the business should be done before the business is put up for sale. We will work with you to make sure the business is humming when the sale sign is put up. An added benefit as part of this process is that you will enjoy increased business profits up to the date of the sale and will achieve a much higher sale price.

3. Selling the business

Selling your business can be stressful and finding a buyer difficult. We work with registered business brokers whose sole aim is to achieve the best outcome for you, your business and the new owners.

Of course, you don’t want to pay the tax office any more than is absolutely necessary, and our expertise in tax planning and tax minimisation will be applied to your situation. Tax laws are quite favourable towards small business sales and retirement and many of our clients do not pay any tax on the sale of their business.

What now?

Simply by creating a succession plan will give you the confidence that you know that you are getting maximum benefit from your business now, and when it comes time to sell. What about if my family member wants to take over? That’s great, and having a plan in place to ensure a smooth and tax effective transfer of your business, is equally important to them.