Big Grower September 2020 - 12

MANAGEMENT
Imagine these two scenarios. Scenario one: you're 80 years old, and your
son has been involved in running the business for 20 years and making
some management decisions for the last five years. Scenario two: you're 80
years old and you oversee all operations and make all the decisions without
the input of your family. You have had no discussion with your son or
daughter on whether they desire or intend to take over the business. Should
something unexpected happen, which scenario gives your business the best
chance for survival?
Most family business owners pride themselves in not just building a
business, but rather, creating a family legacy to pass along. Even if you're
younger and far from 80, it's important to put a plan on paper for the future
of your business. While there's less certainty for what the future holds - as
we know, like the weather, changing times can cause changes in business -
it's easy to leave room for flexibility in your plan.
Don't let age deter you from taking advantage of the advanced planning
techniques that can help build and transfer value to your business for its
future and its stability to support your family. If situations change, you can
easily adapt your plan.
IS THE SUCCESSION PROCESS TIME-CONSUMING?
While your age, the ages and involvement of your family in the business,
and other financial and operational complexities will play a role in
answering this question, the importance of having these hard but crucial
conversations for the future of your business overshadows the value of time.
Time will only aid your efforts.
The more consideration, communication and planning you do, the more
prepared, stable and positioned your business will be for a successful
transition when you're ready. The process forces you to get your ducks in a
row and put a plan in place.
It forces real family conversations that could be uncomfortable or tense. It
forces identification of back-up leaders and management to be prepared for
when the time comes - not just who you think might want to, but actually
identify those who have the heart, desire and talent to step up.
If there aren't enough hours in the day to fit it in, consider starting
conversations with a professional facilitator. They can schedule a time
to visit with you and your family, and help you to easily navigate
the process.
IT SOUNDS TOO COMPLEX, MAYBE LATER?
Before you put a pin in this " to-do " and tack it up for another day, I want
you to know that there are specially-trained family business advisors that
can help you get started. A simple consultation to talk about your business
and operations is all it takes. Yes, it can be complex at times because, let's
face it, families can be complex. But it's never going to be easier to address
than right now.
I recently worked with a six-generation agriculture business that had
been passed down from parents to three sons. The three sons each had a
wife and sons, and those sons had wives. We started the process by having
conversations with each of them individually.
Through the course of starting and facilitating conversations, they
were able to get to the bottom of what was causing tension in the
family, who had true interest in the business, where the financial and
stability of the business stood for the next generation, which kids and
at what ages they wanted to enter into the business, and potential
future technology considerations that could impact both efficiency and
profitability for the business.
Had this family not started this process and had those conversations, the
business and its legacy could be in jeopardy as tensions would continue to
build around the uncertainty of the future. This healthy Ag business could
have easily fallen victim to the 96% failure rate statistic that is the startling
reality for a sixth-generation business transition today.
While we all wish we had a crystal ball to foresee life's major changes,
unfortunately we don't, and the best advice is to plan for it now.
Kala Jenkins is a senior agriculture consultant with K·Coe Isom in
Indianapolis, Indiana. She can be reached at kala.jenkins@kcoe.com.
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RAKER-ROBERTA'S YOUNG PLANTS
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Big Grower September 2020

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