Succession Planning

Successful businesses must eventually face the issue of succession planning. The owner needs to decide, "Should I sell the business or transition it to family members or current employees?"

The truth is, however, that many business owners find this process very frustrating. Running a successful business has not necessarily prepared the owner to know how to deal with the transition process effectively.

Worse yet, owners often become even more frustrated by the vast array of "experts" who represent themselves as knowledgeable, but who are not truly equipped to deal with all of the issues involved in ownership transition. All too often owners enlist the help of financial planners and other professionals who specialize in areas such as insurance, investments or legal and accounting issues. These experts are usually unprepared to provide clear advice to the owner on the true value of the business and the best way to transition it.

In reality, the ultimate value of most businesses is the people, their expertise, and their ability to handle the needs of customers. Advisors who are not capable of considering these issues are not likely to provide you, the owner, with the kind of advice that will ensure the long term success and value of the business. Many experts under-value the importance of keeping the business strong during the transition process. We believe that the key to getting the best value for the business is to make sure that the business survives and prospers after the transition is complete.

At Lighthouse Growth Resources, we have the expertise make a successful transition. We will help accurately appraise your business and work with you to develop a transition plan that will optimize the value of the business well before you are ready to retire. By planning for the transition in advance, we can often help you save on taxes, as well as ensure that the business prospers long after you have moved on.

We will help you avoid excessive fees and while seeing to it that you receive a fair price for the sale of your business. Furthermore, we recognize that we don't have all the answers, so we work with a variety of professional specialists who are competent, trustworthy, and provide good value to our clients.