As another year comes to a close, business owners will be busy poring through financial statements to determine the extent to which they need to do tax planning.  They may also be busy working up forecasts and budgets for 2013.  Too often a disproportionate amount of attention is given to the tax situation.  Forecasting and … Read more

I had an interesting (an unfortunately, not atypical) conversation with a family business owner this weekend.  Dad owns a very successful construction company, but is in his 70’s and wants to significantly cut back on how much he’s working (he’s putting in 80+ hours a week).  His son (we’ll call him Junior) works in the … Read more

Today’s guest post is written by Mike Boyle – Head Sales Scientist – Banjar Group Lately I have been using a story to help my customers focus on where they are during these indifferent times. The Tour De France. Where do you win the Tour de France I ask? “At the finish line” is often … Read more

One of the issues family businesses face is the idea of having non-family members in key roles in the business.  Mom & Dad started the business (or Grandpa & Grandma) and no non-relative has ever really been in a position of influence.  The idea of a non-family member running the show seems blasphemous to some families.  … Read more

We recently posted a blog series on Succession planning (July/August).  Some of the questions we asked (Who is the best candidate to succeed you?  What are you doing to prepare the next leader? etc.) caused me to start thinking about family businesses.  There are varying definitions of “family business” out there, but the one I … Read more