Success Through Succession Series

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This four-part series provides a deep dive into why advisors should engage in succession planning proactively, when to start, the most effective strategies being used today, and much more.

Part 1: Preparing Your Practice, Preparing Your Team

Part 2: The Mechanics of Succession Planning

Part 3: How to Effectively Share Equity

Part 4: How to Make Succession More About Growing, Than Going

Learn more about what we cover in each part in the descriptions below.

Part 1: Preparing Your Practice, Preparing Your Team

When operating an advisory business, it is essential to start with the end in mind.

  • What do you want to build?
  • How big do you want to get?
  • When does the Gen 1 founder(s) want to be able to retire?
  • And, when you leave the business, who takes over (and how do they afford it)?

 

These are the questions the industry’s most successful advisors have an answer for and which we’ll unpack.

This first session focuses on what advisors need to do with their internal operations and service model to position themselves for a successful exit.

We will talk about who you would share equity with and when, how valuation should be approached, career track best practices, how to get Gen 2 and Gen 3 team members ready, and critical financial considerations that impact succession (compensation and profitability).

Part 2: The Mechanics of Succession Planning

Selling the business is one of the most important decisions you’ll make as a founder. For some, they’ll hit the “easy button” and sell the entire business to a peer and then retire after a short transition period; others will simply retire through attrition, dying at their desk. Internal succession with your team is that happy middle ground. In this second session, we’ll dive deep into the taxation of internal deals, stock vs. asset sales, seller vs. bank financing, gifting and grants, how to handle sweat equity, minority discounts, and family business transfer considerations.

Part 3: How to Effectively Share Equity

Selling your business, regardless of how long it takes or who you sell to, is something you get one shot at doing right and is the final step to ensuring your clients are taken care of when you finally exit. This third installment goes deep on the four most common and effective internal equity-sharing alternatives being used today. We will look at how buy-ins can be structured, evaluate the pros and cons of each, and explore real-life case studies to understand how they ultimately chose the right solution for their situation.

Part 4: How to Make Succession More About Growing, Than Going

This final installment focuses on the human element of the transition. We will focus on how to effectively map out the role transition between Gen 1 and Gen 2 (and/or Gen 3), how and when to communicate the plan to staff and clients, and what the seller’s ongoing role could look like. We will also review how to get Gen 2 and Gen 3 ready to take over, and best practices to position your successors to not just operate the business, but how they can grow it even after you’re retired.

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