On Father’s Day, Morgan Bux celebrated with her dad Big Daddy Bux and asked him to team up with her to buy the fast-growing Green Earth Air Conditioning and Heating, LLC in Buda from the Green Earth retiring owner Gaia. Morgan suggested to Big Daddy that he invest her inheritance in Green Earth and work with her to grow the business as part of his own retirement and estate planning. Big Daddy’s tax and estate planning lawyers outlined a plan. Morgan’s business consultant recommended the formation of a Green Earth advisory team to support her after the purchase and developed a long-term plan for management growth and business expansion. To complete the purchase, should Morgan buy the assets or Gaia’s membership interest in the Green Earth limited liability company? Often buyers would rather purchase the company’s asset while sellers prefer to sell the stock / membership interest in the entire company. Why is that? What would Morgan and Big Daddy prefer?
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Selling Mom’s Business – Asset or Stock Sale?
Angelica Bux and her son Duke own a fast-growing, family business Blue Skies Air Conditioning and Heating, LLC in Cotulla Texas. Angelica plans to retire by selling Blue Skies to Duke to fund her retirement. Their business consultant developed their near-term plan to expand and maximize their business’ value. More recently, their tax and estate planning lawyers outlined an effective tax transition plan and the formation of a Blue Skies’ advisory team to support Duke’s management after the sale. To complete the purchase, should Duke buy the assets or Angelica’s membership interest in the Blue Skies’ limited liability company? Often buyers prefer to purchase the company’s assets, and sellers would rather sell the entire company. Why is that? Does an inter-family sale affect their decision?
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Family Matters: Can a Family Business Succeed Without Addressing Overlapping Business AND Family Issues?
Continuing to struggle with transitioning his family business to the next generation, Big Daddy Ernest Bux, 65, considers perhaps the most difficult task on his checklist: Ensuring that both his management succession decision makers and all of his ownership succession members are good communicators of both business and family issues. A couple of months ago, Big Daddy Bux addressed the family factor and its two components – the management succession process and the ownership succession process. Now that the management successors (the business decision makers) and the ownership successors are identified, how can Big Daddy equip them both to be good communicators?
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Family Matters: Can a Family Business Succeed Without a Written Exit Plan?
Continuing to deliberate about when and how to exit from his family business, Big Daddy Ernest Bux, 65, considers yet another task on his checklist: Determine Exit Strategy. He’s already Identified Successors and Decision Makers, and Planned for Contingencies. Yet to be tackled are Establish Goals, Plan Entity Structure and Transfer, Complete Estate Planning, and Implement Document Maintenance and Control. Asking his banker last week about a new loan to expand his business, Big Daddy learned that his banker cannot give him a business loan without seeing a complete exit plan. How is an exit strategy different from last month’s thoughts on identifying successors?
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Family Matters: Can a Family Business Succeed Without Identifying Successors?
Realizing that at 65 it’s time to talk about succession of his family business – especially Buxboro State Bank, Big Daddy Ernest Bux identified his checklist: Identify Successions, Identify Decision Makers, Plan for Contingencies, Establish Goals, Plan Entity Structure and Transfer, Complete Estate Planning, Determine Exit Strategy, and Implement Document Maintenance and Control. To succeed, what does identifying successions and decision makers look like for Big Daddy’s family business?
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Family Matters: Can a Family Business Succeed Without a Contingency Plan for Divorce?
Realizing last month that, at age 65 he’s ready to think about his family business succession plan – especially for Buxboro State Bank, Big Daddy Ernest Bux identified his checklist: Plan for Contingencies, Establish Goals, Plan Entity Structure and Transfer, Complete Estate Planning, Identify Decision Makers, Identify Successors, Determine Exit Strategy, and Implement Document Maintenance and Control. Must Big Daddy’s family business have a contingency plan for divorce to succeed?
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