THE PERSONAL SIDE OF SUCCESSION PLANNING

There is a litany of published material on succession planning. Blog posts, newsletters, articles, and books abound. Most are focused on the practical issues of the process and how to…

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SUCCESSION PLANNING AND THE NEW YEAR

Reflecting upon the events of 2019, I feel one of the most troubling was an event that occurred as a large project was coming to an end. As the project…

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WHEN TO ADD FINANCIAL EXPERTISE IN A GROWING BUSINESS?

Of the many decisions a business leader faces with a growing enterprise, decisions about when (and at what level) to add financial expertise can be one of the most obscure. …

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SUDDEN WEALTH

I just got off the phone with an old friend – a musician – who called in a panic. He was beside himself and for a moment I thought maybe…

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LEADERSHIP

As we come to the end of another hectic year I want to pause and reflect on a conversation I have regularly with clients that has little to do with…

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THE FAMILY BANK

Three years ago I helped a business owner rescue his succession plan from imminent failure.  We restructured the plan to both enable him to withdraw from the business (with enough…

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CYBERSECURITY IN A CHANGING WORLD

The Wall Street Journal Pro Report of December 19, 2017 was devoted to the issue of Cybersecurity. The chilling reality is that national governments, state and local governments, businesses and…

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SMALL BUSINESS AND GROWTH PLATEAUS

As a small business grows, some changes made necessary by growth are obvious while more subtle but, no less important ones often go unattended. Take for example the need for…

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“HELLO. WE WANT TO BUY YOUR COMPANY.” NOW WHAT DO YOU DO?

If you are the owner or CFO for a small to medium- sized business, it is likely closely- held or family- owned, and this may happen to you. If not,…

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THE VALUE SURPRISE IN SELLING YOUR BUSINESS

In this post I describe a frequent problem our firm encounters with founder/owners looking to sell their business. Recently a client mentioned that she was thinking of selling her existing…

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