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"Helping businesses and owners groom for transition"



Succession Planning and Implementation- Generational
 
Entertaining Real-World Description of This Category.

Disguises.
Nothing upsets me more than "insurance agents" disguising themselves as succession experts, yes their products are often a key component in the financial side of the "deal", but that is only part of the story.

Getting the Cart in Front of the Horse.  Sorry, another pet peeve. Thinking of succession as something you can solve with a financial plan, or weekend retreat plan. (see my diatribe on strategic planning) Succession plans get caught in the same mire and muck as "weekend" retreat long-term strategic plans. This approach is not the strongest approach, the cart is in front of the horse.

Let me describe a typical generational succession:   40 year old business, $60 million in sales, 200+ employees, daddy is 78, there is a non-family minority partner who needs to retire but his retirement is locked in the company... there is a son-in-law who really needs to run the business, he has the capacity, the father knows this, but, nobody has the guts to speak up... plus, there is a son, who's name is the same as the name on the building, he is an important part of the business but is not a run the day to day guy needed to take the company into the future, plus he is used to fishing on Wednesday and leaving at 5:00.  This is tough stuff.

The best approach to Keeping Success in Succession© wbco is to focus on Organizational Clarity, and Traction - organizational and individual accountability and dicipline, making the business strong in all key areas first, then addressing the financial side second. 

Think of organizational succession as the front wheel of the succession bicycle, the financial side is the real wheel... the rear wheel follows the front wheel... where you point the front wheel, the rear wheel follows.

Do we or do we not fit?: We do fit here. #1 we get everyone on the same page, we facilitate open and honest communication.  #2 We help you build solid organizational clarity, accountability and discipline, via EOS.  What we do not do. We don't write annuity policies, that is Doug Cowan's world,  we do not do the legal side of the deal, that is Stuart Dorsett's specialty, we do not do the valuation, that is David Ingram's specialty,

What position we play if we fit:
We are not touchy feely, but we do have high levels of emotional "IQ".  Generational Succession has emotion built in. We are coaches and implementers who are aware of this, and as coaches we drive to score a win for all on the team. We bring a proven process, EOS, to your business to enable you to make this happen to make it a reality.

What heavy lifting do we do for you in this category? We drive through all the fog. We get everything on the table, we uncover out opinions. We air the laundry. We do everything that needs to be done to pave the way for a successful succession. Open and Honest. Then we help you implement with the tools, practice and knowledge to make it happen.

Other reference Notes:
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We specialize in discrete, real world, measurable, optimization, using methods and processes practiced and proven by thousands of companies coast to coast, not just in our backyard - The Triangle
 
Contact: walt@smart-state.com 919 345 6079
 

copyright walt brown and company, smart state 2010