There are a variety of succession planning avenues through which you can achieve your business succession objectives. Succession planning is a very flexible and versatile area. The wide diversity of alternative estate structures, stock transfer methods, business structures, etc. can and often does create confusion. Each alternative has a different impact on the various members of a family and business.

Keep a positive attitude and do not back away from considering any option because it appears too complicated or ambitious. Assemble a capable planning team and rely upon them to help you review your alternatives and confirm the feasibility of your objectives. Your advisors will help you keep in mind the various factors that should impact your decision, such as cash flow needs, time commitment, the capabilities of children, availability of support staff, estate taxes, and the marketplace.

After examining your alternatives, the next step in the planning process is to reconfirm those objectives that you previously recorded. Examining alternatives will enlighten you to the feasibility of your objectives and encourage or discourage you to pursue them. As part of this process, be prepared to return to step one and make changes in your objectives. For example, you may have an objective of being financially independent and retiring from your business by age sixty. However, when you understand the financial commitment required to achieve this goal and the current lifestyle sacrifices required, you may choose to modify your goal for retirement at age 65.

Having endured the confusion of reviewing your planning alternatives and then reconfirming your objectives, you now need an action plan to lead you through the typically extended process involved in accomplishing your succession objectives. Your plan should be an effective road map of the action you will be taking that provides as much detail as possible. You will need this plan for guidance in making decisions weeks and even months after the initial discussion regarding the action alternatives.

Following through with an effective succession plan is a matter of organization, coordination and focus. An action checklist will enhance the effectiveness of your action plan by providing specific instructions for each member of the planning team, such as attorneys and accountants, and will enable them to clearly understand their action responsibility and when they are expected to complete their assigned tasks. A regularly updated and circulated checklist will do much to maintain a coordinated focused vision of action goals. This detailed list of expected action will keep the pressure on busy advisors to attend to their planning responsibilities. Steady progress is essential for the achievement of protracted, complicated projects such as succession planning.

Unfortunately, an action plan by itself will not get the job done, and it is usually dependent upon motivated leadership to complete the task following up with attorneys, accountants and appraisers. Unfortunately, the all too common situation is that one or more members of the planning team give that patented shrug of the shoulders and say "I thought you were going to do that." Each time this occurs, the planning process looses valuable momentum as the various members of the planning team wait for another member to catch up. It is essential to the planning process to have a planning leader or "quarterback" who will take responsibility for preparing the action checklist, coordinate the progress on the various projects, and follow through to the completion of your succession plan.

RVN