cs1 Sonny is a dedicated, key employee. Though he only owns 20% of the stock in the business, he has always shared in decisions equally. The owner, Fred, has often said the company would never have grown so fast without Sonny as manager. This morning, Fred pulled Sonny aside and said he was getting out of the business in 5 years. His 27-year-old son, who has only worked in the business since finishing college, would be moved into the main office and groomed for the presidency. Sonny gave the business 20 years and thinks he deserves more. He feels betrayed and angry. THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS DECISION YOU WILL EVER MAKE IS WHEN YOU SELL OR TRANSFER YOUR BUSINESS. If you’re like most entrepreneurs, your business represents most of your personal wealth-and most of the years of your life. Whether you sell it outright, transfer it within the family or to key employees, you are faced with many soul searching decisions. CFG specializes in business planning to help you through the process you are about to begin.
CFG Business Solutions
Family Business Succession & Wealth Governance Life Insurance Solutions
CFG Business Solutions

When a family business considers succession planning, family issues usually come into play. To paraphrase Charles Dickens, succession planning “…may be the best of times, or it may be the worst of times.”

Succession planning is a multi-generational process. The senior generation typically wants to protect what has been built while the next generation maneuvers through sibling partnerships, business strategy and decision making, timing and readiness to assume control. Coupled with complex estate and income tax issues about how a plan might be implemented, it is no wonder that most family businesses procrastinate about important keep or sell decisions.

 

At CFG Business Solutions we do some complicated things very well:

  • Manage family issues which cause procrastination
  • Create sophisticated, customized, financial models and scenarios to illustrate how various strategies might play out under different circumstances — at business, personal, and estate levels.
  • Coordinate income and estate tax planning with business succession
  • Project cash flows so all involved can be assured the plan will work (while gaining commitments from the next generation).
  • Bring creativity (and practical ideas) for integrating family governance into complex estate planning documents
  • Collaborate with existing advisors to form a real planning team.

 

Whether you decide to keep or sell your business, succession planning is a complex, managed process. CFG Business Solutions has a proven track record of successfully working with large, closely held businesses, like yours.

  • Our team assesses your needs, develop a customized plan, and then lead its implementation. Our staff and our resources include legal, accounting, financial and management professionals who specialize in creating and managing sophisticated business transitions.
  • We are process-oriented and transaction-focussed. Once we’ve designed a succession plan for you, we direct its implementation, with a portion of our compensation being contingent upon the successful completion of your objectives.
  • We offer an unbiased, fresh perspective to your succession situation. Our innovative, cross-disciplinary solutions address complex needs, break through impasses and produce results.
  • Succession in a closely held company offers challenges other companies never experience. A key strength is our ability to balance difficult family dynamics with your strategic business needs.
  • Our role is to lead the planning and implementation process while contributing the additional, specialized skills required for a succession transaction.
  • Experience shows there are two basic requirements for success in a sophisticated business transition: external expertise and internal motivation. Call us when you are ready to move the succession process forward in your business.

CFG’s successful client engagements are based on listening to what our clients want in a consultant:

  • Smart: A “solution architect” who listens and speaks their language
  • Energetic: Someone who is results oriented and who uses creative, out-of-the-box thinking
  • Proactive: A consultant who provides an integrated business and family perspective
  • Team Player: Ability to collaborate at a high level with existing advisors.
 Life Insurance Solutions
Case Study 1