What job do you want your money to do?

Business Transition Forum and speaker, Jacoline Loewen

When an owner of a business sells, it is a challenging time as they go from being the smartest guy in the room in their business, to being a money manager.

These owners find it tough to trust a wealth management expert, even if they are asking the most important question:

What job you want your money to do?

To have that fancy car, that new home with the best furniture, that golf club membership, that cottage in Muskoka,, that home in Costa Rica?
Or is to educate your kids, support a charity, gift to your alma mater or for scholarships? Or to invest into the VC community?

One question I do not hear being discussed with enthusiasm is how can the wealth take you to retirement and beyond?  The latter question is rarely examined early in the sale of business process. It can be more appealing to have to go to the dentist, it seems.

Sudden wealth does happen for business owners, people inheriting wealth and the notorious lottery winners. There are popular strategies used by those gaining this sudden wealth.

Fire Hose Strategy

One of my top prospects sold his trucking company a few years ago and has been all over the place with managing his cash outflows. Probably managing his wife and grown up offspring was the hardest. as they were spending money using the fire hose strategy. He just called me all excited because he had just figured out that he only needs dividend strategy.

"So I don't touch the capital, live off the dividend and if you get 5% interest, you are fine.  The market is going up 90% of the time, and I get a check every month."

I was frustrated that my conversations with him had not unearthed that central and very core point about managing wealth.  Needless to say, he has not become my client.

We are actually doing a highly complex business of wealth management and along the way, this entrepreneur had got the message from his own networking because that is what he trusts.

Pin the Tail on the Donkey Strategy 

What seems blindingly obvious to you, often is not the full answer or even close to the possibilities. If you are relying on your golf buddies or YPO Forum to figure out your wealth management, you will not be getting a full picture of what your could really achieve for you. Your strategy is to go forward blindly and put the tail where you hear your friends telling you to press that pin.  When you take off the blindfold, you discover your buddies did not do a good job of guiding your guesses and also, they don't need to care.  You need to care.

What job do you want your money to do?   What is your money for? It can be difficult to get going and it is helpful to think about these questions to prod, push and poke your thoughts. there is no correct answer.

1. What gets you out of bed in the morning,  What would get you out of bed?
2. Do you think globally or locally?
3. Are you concerned with making a difference? Where? With your family?  Or with the community or with a large internet audience?
4. Are you impulsive or considered?
5. How much control do you have over your time?
6. How much money do you need monthly?

Use my coupon to get a discount to the Business Transition Forum. 20% discount  you can share with your network using the code jloewen20

   

The Business Transitions Forum<https://businesstransitionsforum.com/> (BTF) is a multi-city conference for business owners seeking expert insights for how to approach the most monumental decision in their company’s journey. Whether their objective is to grow, sell or buy, BTF will give them the tools to enhance the value of their business. Our 2019 Spring line-up includes BTF Atlantic (April 2-3), BTF Edmonton (April 15-16) and BTF Toronto (May 28-29).

   

How can you grow your money?

How can you make money?

I suggest that you steal a page from the wealthy.

Business e-Volution, by Jacoline Loewen

The Spectrem Group found business owners account for 6% of seven-figure households — triple that of doctors and lawyers.

Don’t expect to get rich quick; the payoff comes when you sell. There is a great deal of that so-called sweat equity that is not seen or experienced by the average tax payer in Canada.

The median price for a web-design firm last year was $687,500, according to BizBuySell. I write about how to use the Internet to grow your business in my book, Business e-volution.

Construction firms tend to fetch $2.1 million. The bricks and mortor businesses still deliver a good return Not shabby amounts to add to your investment portfolio.

How do you select a financial planner when you sell your business?

When you sell your company and all of a sudden, you have millions to invest, it can make you quite giddy. All of a sudden, your long last relatives will appear on your doorstep asking for a loan or an investment. Your niece will want you invest in her new app which is "brilliant".  Suddenly, you can access wealth manages who need you to have more than $2million to open an account. These wealth managers are the elite of financial planners.

Financial planners advise clients on how best to save, invest, and grow their money. They can help you tackle a specific financial goal—such as giving you a macro view of your money and the interplay of your various assets. Some specialize in retirement or estate planning, while some others consult on a range of financial matters. At the very least, they should find out about your family.

Don’t confuse planners with stockbrokers — the market mavens people call to trade stocks. 

Financial planners also differ from accountants who can help you lower your tax bill, insurance agents who might lure you in with complicated life insurance policies, or the person at your local bank urging you to buy their off the shelf mutual funds.

Anyone can hang out a shingle as a financial planner, but that doesn’t make that person an expert. They may tack on an alphabet soup of letters after their names, but CFA (short for certified financial planner) is the most significant credential. A CFA has passed a rigorous test on the specifics of personal finance. CFAs must also commit to continuing education on financial matters and ethics classes to maintain their designation. The CFP credential is a good sign that a prospective planner will give sound financial advice. Still, even those who pass the exam may come up short on skills and credibility. As with all things pertaining to your money, be meticulous in choosing the right planner.

Their firm is important. Some small planner make you pay dearly. They are smart but you end up paying more as they still have to place orders for your portfolio and they will have to pay a fee and pass that along to you. 

What to do a few years before selling your business

When his father was 67 years old, an unforeseen financial crisis forced the succession. Patrick Bermingham, Bermingham Construction, knew his father did not have the appetite to fight for the company’s survival; in one moment, his father shook his hand and Patrick was put in charge.

“My father was the supreme leader, but after that handshake, he never questioned my decision making.” Stepping into a precarious financial situation meant that Patrick had to make rapid decisions and get a plan for survival.

“I needed money. I bought a new suit from Harry Rosen. I got on a plane to Japan. I sold a patent. It enabled me to stabilize the business,” he says.

Then he set his long-term plan which meant looking at the hard truths.

Patrick needed a family succession plan, but knew that his children were much too young to take over. He could also see the valuation was too low to sell the business. He eventually decided to transition the business to outside owners by allowing the employees to buy shares , and not to do succession planning for the next generation of the Bermingham family.

When it comes to the family finances, structuring existing money can be done several years before a sale of a business or any other significant liquidity event. Trusts can be structured more favourably in times of low interest rates and low valuations for company stock.

At the time of Bermingham’s low valuation, when a sale is not possible, it may be suitable to transfer ownership in the family business to a trust at favourable terms. You can allow for a more tax effective transfer of ownership than during times of high interest rates or high stock valuation.

Patrick decided to do an estate freeze for his family. Then Patrick began the transition process by allowing employees to buy shares in the company. The company’s debt-equity ratio was still too high though, and the company needed more investment capital. Again, Patrick brought in experts to help organize and manage a partnership with private equity.

Eventually, after four years, the company was bought back from the private equity firm. When it came time to sell to a world class, strategic corporation, a few years later, Mr. Bermingham said the company was polished from all the steps taken along the way. “The secret of transitioning your business is that it is a long term process. You hedge your bets and maximize your value by buying and selling and then buying back parts of the company. It is not something you do suddenly.”

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By, Jacoline Loewen, column

special to the Globe and Mail.