Family Business Succession Planning

estate planning

My Top 10 Tips to Shorten the Life of Your Family Business

Top 10 Tips to Shorten the Life of a Family Business

I’ve certainly enjoyed more than my fair share of quality time on airplanes to contemplate some of the fascinating family business stories I’ve collected on the speaking circuit. It’s pretty common for professional speakers to spend a little time with audience members who confess their stories and share details about their family firm fiascos after […]

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Family Business Owner Driving the Kids Crazy – Someone Call Security

Family Business Owner Driving the Kids Crazy – Someone Call Security

Last month I was speaking at a convention in Vancouver and took a question from the audience that made me laugh, even though I’d heard versions of the question before: “How do I get my 85-year-old father to stop coming to the office and causing all sorts of disruption?” Before I could answer someone in […]

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Long Odds That Family Is Best Suited to Lead Your Business

Odds That Family Is Best Suited To Lead Your Business is Like Hitting a Hole-In-One

It was on the 18th green that a friend who owns a successful executive search firm answered a question about family business leadership that had challenged me from the very first day I sat down to write Every Family’s Business. Finally the penny dropped. As he stared at his improbable 60-foot putt he opined that […]

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Isn’t It Time You Bought Your Competitor Lunch?

Business Succession Planning: Isn’t It Time You Bought Your Competitor Lunch?

For me, business has always been about dominating the competition – not just beating them but seriously overpowering them. Personal enmity has never driven this approach but rather a kind of institutional loathing underpinned by the idea that there is a finite number of customers worth battling for. I have never sought my inspiration from […]

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A Family Wired For Perpetual Dependence

A Family Wired For Perpetual Dependence

When the sale of a family business is all about a founder becoming wealthy and their children losing their jobs, you can see why so few ever put themselves in play and sell. The CEO – the Chief Emotional Officer (Mom, and increasingly Dad) – just can’t stand to see the family pull itself apart. […]

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Why Do Family Business Owners Often Die at their Desk?

I was speaking to a friend who owns a successful manufacturing business and asked him when he plans to sell his business”. His response echoed something that I’m hearing more and more from business owners in my audience. “I can’t afford to sell – if I sell and take the proceeds and invest in this […]

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Estate Brain Freeze: Why Saving Tax Is the Wrong Place to Start a Family Business Succession Plan

Estate Brain Freeze: Why Saving Tax Is the Wrong Place to Start a Family Business Succession Plan

With summer approaching I know I’ll be back to consuming my favorite iced coffee beverages and despite knowing better, I’ll drink the odd one faster than I should, causing one of those excruciating brain freezes. Another kind of excruciating pain in the brain can come from a different kind of freeze – the estate freeze, […]

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The New EBITDA: Emotions Before Interest Taxes and Depreciation

Sitting in the departure lounge at LAX, I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between an investment banker and his younger associate. I learned two things. First (and most business travelers can relate), it is amazing how cavalier people are about discussing confidential details in public places.

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