As a business owner, you’ve taken on a big responsibility to your family, your clients/customers, your team and your partners. Most businesses are not sufficiently liquid to keep the company going and the owner’s family thriving, in the event of death. But with the right plan in place, you can ensure the people you care most about are well provided for if anything happens to you.
While facing death is not the most pleasant prospect, doing so can actually make your life and business a whole lot better. A life and death plan – also called a succession plan – for your business will ensure you have:
- Enough insurance (and the right kind of insurance) to provide cash to keep your business going in the event of your death;
- A written plan to designate who will run your business (or prepare it for sale), when you are no longer able to do so;
- Documented access to your digital business assets so your business can continue to serve customers, collect payments and pay expenses;
- A plan to keep your business (and your family) out of probate court, which is totally unnecessary and avoidable;
- An updated inventory of your business and personal assets so nothing you own is lost to the State Department of Unclaimed Property and so your intellectual property is well-protected and capitalized upon;
- The story of your business, written, video or audio recorded, so you can leave a documented legacy of the lessons and experienced you learned along the way.
With a succession plan in place for your business, you can rest easy knowing that if anything happens to you, the people you care about most — your family, clients and customers, your team and partners — will be well cared for, in just the way you want. The peace of mind which comes with that knowledge frees you up to focus on creating more income and a bigger impact now.
Creating and documenting a business succession plan is truly a win-win-win situation. If you are ready to set up yourself, and your business, and the most important people in your life to win, no matter what, we can help you accomplish just that. I’ll ensure you get from where you are now – no matter what stage your planning is in currently – to exactly where you want to be. That’s my commitment to you.
This article is a service of Tara Cheever, Family Business Lawyer®. I offer a complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you structure your operations for success. One of our primary services is a LIFT Start-Up Session,™ in which we guide you through the right choice of business entity, location of business entity, start up agreements, intellectual property protection, employment structuring, insurance, financial and tax systems you need to start your next business and succeed right out of the gate. This session is normally $5,000, but if you are one of the first three people to schedule, I’ll take you through the entire LIFT Start-Up™ process for half that investment. Call me today to schedule a time to have a conversation!