If you are thinking of selling a family-owned business, separating family issues from business issues can often be a challenge. One solution? Create a family council.

Creating and running a family council helps improve communication, accountability, and family harmony. By participating in a family council, family members feel more involved as part of the family-management-ownership system. But most importantly,

There is no doubt that 2009 was a challenging time for business owners and business advisors alike.  However, as we look back on 2009 we realized that some of our biggest success stories were about the deals we didn't do.  Let me give you a real world example.

A business owner named Don (name changed to protect his identity) asked us to sell his company. Rather than immediately agreeing to work with him, we asked Don to take "The Sell Test". He  failed. He was shocked. He wanted to know what it meant.

2009 has been an unprecedented year, and many small to medium sized companies and their management teams consider themselves fortunate to have survived the worst recession in 50 years. As strategic planning for 2010 continues, business owners thinking about an exit or major transaction in 2010 should keep the following considerations in mind.

Richard Jackim, a Managing Director with MidCap Advisors, will address hundreds of the nation's top life insurance producers and financial service professionals at the International Forum's annual meeting to be held in Orlando on January 16-20, 2010.

Unfortunately, these decisions will not sustain business momentum and will further delay many owners' exits. That's a significant problem for baby boomer owners who may be seeking to retire in the next 5-10 years.

The Obama Administration’s sweeping tax reforms will have a significant impact on entrepreneurs thinking about selling their businesses over the next few years. The following is a brief summary of the Obama Administration’s tax proposals and the impact they may have on our clients:

1. Capital Gains Taxes Will Increase. The Obama Administration proposes increasing capital gains rates from a historic low of 15% up to 20% on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends. This rate would apply to married taxpayers filing jointly with income over $250,000 and for single taxpayers with income over $200,000.
   

The current recession is causing many business owners to begin thinking about their ownership transition strategy. While most business owners realize that now may not be a great time to sell, most want to understand their options so that they can take advantage of a market rebound in 2010.

All business owners intuitively know that they need to have an ownership transition strategy, but few know how to design and then implement a good one. A good ownership transition strategy needs to empower business owners so that they can answer "yes" to each of the following eight questions:

In previous posts we've discussed three areas where business owners can focus their energies to emerge from the current recession with a business that is prepared for sale.  As you may recall, those areas are:

Q: Why do entrepreneurs often sell 100% of their healthy business to achieve some personal liquidity?

A: Because they mistakenly believe they have no alternative.

In today's credit market, if you are trying to raise capital to grow your business you better have a written business plan. A business plan is a document that demonstrates the growth potential and objectives of your company. In addition to serving as a practical road map showing the goal and the path to get there, a business plan should also be viewed as a marketing tool that can successfully sell your business model to capital providers by emphasizing the strengths of your company while still discussing the challenges and obstacles it most overcome.