Thinking ahead - planning a successful future for you and your family business.

BOSS - Business Owners Succession Solutions. It takes planning, focus and teamwork to build something that lasts for several generations.

Planning for succession…

Garbutt & Elliott understand that family businesses are unique with underlying issues that require owners to look at the complete picture and contemplate how to:

• Build a stronger business with the highest possible value
• Plan for financial freedom to fund your preferred lifestyle and retirement
• Consider personal and family needs, and manage potential management conflicts
• Plan for management succession or for the sale of the business to existing management or a third party
• Plan and reduce the inheritance tax burden

When owners of the family businesses contemplate a change in ownership - selling the business, passing it on to successors, management buyouts - critical decisions affecting the owners and their families are often not completely addressed. There are technical taxation and financial planning issues that need to be addressed, strategies to balance human resources, information technology, marketing and sales and the financial needs of the business.

The Garbutt & Elliott approach
We understand the challenges facing family business owners and we are able to provide you with a completely integrated, strategic planning and service delivery process called Business Owners Succession Solutions - BOSS.

We assist owners to plan business transitions through the business life cycle. If you are already in the growth stage, we can help you organise and manage that growth. And if you have a thriving, mature business and are thinking about retirement, we can help you with the critical decision of succession planning.

BOSS focuses on "lifetime planning strategies" for you, our client.

Timing
Although transition and succession issues are often thought of when owners are approaching retirement, the Garbutt & Elliott - BOSS approach is most effective when put into practice early. Starting early allows the flexibility and the opportunity to evaluate alternatives. This approach is a lifelong commitment to you, your family and your business.

It is well known that only about a half of family businesses successfully transfer to the next generation and the picture looks much worse by the time we get to the third generation.

Many more family businesses could survive intact for longer with appropriate strategic help along the way.

That is what we are committed to do with you…

BOSS essentially focuses on five key planning areas:

1. Business Financial Planning
We gain a thorough understanding of your business and all the processes that make it work. We then help you to get the most out of the resources that you invest, to succeed. We have various planning tools that can assist with the best possible business planning such as BUSINESS MAXIMISER, a strategic planning toolkit.

2. Personal Financial Planning
…achieving your desired lifestyle for now, for your children, for your future and long-term financial independence. This will include timely and proactive advice on areas such as: retirement planning, personal income tax planning, personal wealth planning.

3. Inheritance Tax Planning
We look closely and plan the best possible strategies for the transfer of assets between generations based on wealth preservation and long-term financial security.

Tax planning, lifetime gifting, creation of appropriate trusts and periodic review.

4. Management Succession Planning
Part of the strategy here is to make you dispensable at the right time so real maintainable profits are achieved and business value is enhanced.

This may include advice on; skills assessment, organisational development and training, professional search and recruiting or other areas as appropriate.

5. Succession Planning
Here we help to manage the handover of control of your business, from one generation to the next or through another exit strategy if more appropriate. A full range of corporate advisory services are available to help with; business valuations, acquisition transaction plans, research, time sales, mergers.

What to do next?
Ask yourself: does my family business have:

• a clear, well thought through exit strategy and plan?
• a clear, well thought through management succession plan?

If not, we can help you.

Garbutt & Elliott BOSS Contact in the first instance is: David Dickson