Initial steps
Our first step is to meet with you and listen to your story. We like to make sure we understand all the hard work you've put in to get where you are today. We'll wrap our head around your business and ask you what your ideal scenario looks like in six months, two years and five years. We'll talk about any barriers or things you are worries about.
Once we've started putting the pieces of the puzzle together, we'll turn our head to your assets and any debt you have and make sure we understand your structures and how things work right now.
Making a plan
Then, we will work with you, your accountant and your bank to plot out a realistic step-by-step plan to fulfil your goals. We are careful as it can be a big process and we want to make sure you don't feel overwhelmed. We'll talk about the timing involved which is often tax related and also dependent on your own appetite to keep working and whether the up-and-comer in your business is ready to take over the reigns (whether in full or incrementally).
Common strategies
The strategies in planning for the future often include drafting agreements or sales contracts, changing trading and ownership structures and being careful about who has control of assets, transferring business plant and equipment, thinking about who carries the risk of running the business and who benefits from the profit, how loans and credit accounts might be secured, and making sure there are no unintended tax consequences.