After speaking with numerous Family Offices over the past year, it appears that the biggest issue facing more than 50% of the families that we have spoken with, is the lack of a “true succession plan”.
A succession plan is quite challenging for many families because it requires family members to really think carefully about whether they even want to keep the business or sell the business. One consideration is whether or not the new generation is even interested in taking over the business. This process requires all of the key family members to agree upon a plan, which may take several meetings.
We typically act as the moderator/mediator, to help get all of the issues on the table and then one by one resolve them so that we can eventually come up with an executable plan.
One of the key issues that prevents a plan from being implemented is that the decision maker may not be ready to give up their authority. Considering that the decision maker may have started and built up the business and has been highly successful, it may be very difficult for them to hand over the reigns
Some key considerations also include the economics of the plan, including tax planning, which could be one of the most important issues to be addressed.
We go through a comprehensive questionnaire with each family to establish the guidelines for creating a succession plan at the beginning of the process.
Once we have the “agreed upon plan”, we can assist with the implementation of the plan, which will require a lot of work on everyone’s part, however we have the ability to keep the ball moving to actually get it done.
If you have any questions about how to implement a “succession plan” for your family or would like to revise your current plan, please contact Michael Rosenblatt, President of The Quest Organization at 212-971-0033 or via email at michael@questorg.com
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