Exit Planning Tools for Business Owners

management

My Interview with Jerry West on Management

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I once had the thrill of interviewing Jerry West on management. He was “The Logo” for the NBA, although back then they didn’t advertise him as such. Only the Laker followers knew for sure.

In 1989 the “Showtime” Lakers were coming off back-to-back championships.  Pat Riley was a year away from his first of three Coach of the Year awards. Jerry was the GM. Many people don’t know this, but starting when Jerry West was drafted in 1960 until he stepped out of the GM role in 2002, the Lakers only missed the playoffs twice. Those seasons (74-75 and 75-76) were the only two seasons out of 42 that West was not on the Laker payroll.

In 1989 I was enrolled in Pepperdine’s Executive MBA program. Our class assignment was to interview a top executive with whom we had no previous relationship or introduction about his management style.

Mr. West Returns the Call

I was an avid Laker fan, and I thought “He can only say no.” So I called the Forum, asked for West’s office, and left him a voicemail. A few hours later our receptionist called me and said “One of your friends is goofing around on the phone. He says he’s Jerry West.” Obviously, I took the call.

We met in his office underneath the stands in the Forum. It may have been 12 x 12 feet, but the magnetic boards lining the wall made it seem much smaller. Each board had an NBA team’s name on top, and magnetic placards for every player currently on that team.

I asked Jerry about how he approached the management of the Lakers. He gestured to the boards. “My job as General Manager is to put the best team on the floor that I can. I look at these boards every day and think who might be better on the Lakers? Then I look at other teams and think who they might have that will convince the team with the player I want to give him up.”

He went on to say that he was sure that business executives weren’t as singularly focused as he was. He thought about the Lakers from the moment he woke until going to sleep at night. I didn’t try to convince him that he matched the profile of many small business owners.

Jerry West on Management

As a manager, Jerry said that he believed that if you hired someone to do a job, then you needed to step back and let them do it. Pat Riley was a broadcaster with no coaching background. Jerry said that the problem with experienced coaches is that they had already been fired once. West took a flyer on Riley, but to appease the media he agreed to sit on the bench to lend advice.

“It was crazy. Riley had no idea what he was doing. He’d call to put guys in the game that we had cut the week before or to sub in guys who were already on the floor. I lasted about three games on the bench. I had to go to my office and let him learn on his own. The alternative was that I’d kill him.”

One poignant moment was when he discussed his family. I can’t imagine the burden being in the public eye brought with it. He talked about his children being bullied on the playground because the team was on a losing streak. Even worse was having his wife accosted in the supermarket aisle by a fan who was incensed over a trade.

One of his greatest tips was when we discussed keeping things in perspective. He showed me two file folders in his desk drawer. “One of these has the most complimentary of the letters I get when the team is doing well. They tell me I’m a genius. The other folder is the worst letters I get when the team is doing poorly. You can guess what they think of me.”

“Whenever we are on a streak, good or bad, I pull one of the letters from the file when we were doing the opposite. It reminds me that it wasn’t always the way it is today, and it will swing back sooner or later.”

Looking to the future

I wasn’t supposed to discuss the Lakers, but the fan in me couldn’t help it. Jerry had just drafted a guy from Yugoslavia that no one had heard of. This was well before European players dominated the top draft picks. I had to ask him about his choice.

“Wait until you see him,” West said. “Seven feet tall and he can pass the ball like Magic.”

He became the starting Laker center for the next seven years. Then Jerry West traded Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets on draft night of 1996 to get the 13th pick, a teenager named Kobe Bryant.

Always looking at those boards.

We’ll miss you, Jerry.

 

 
John F. Dini develops transition and succession strategies that allow business owners to exit their companies on their own schedule, with the proceeds they seek and complete control over the process. He takes a coaching approach to client engagements, focusing on helping owners of companies with $1M to $250M in revenue achieve both their desired lifestyles and legacies.

Contingency and Continuity Planning

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When business consultants talk about preparing for unforeseen problems, they frequently commingle the terms contingency and continuity. The terms are not synonymous, and there are important differences between them.

Contingency Planning

Contingency planning is generally accepted to mean how a business will respond in the event of a disaster. This could entail a building fire, severe weather, a strike of key service workers, civil unrest, or riots (depending on the audience.) Additionally, in the age of cybersecurity, ransomware or a denial of service attack, identity theft, and electronic fraud are all well qualified to be categorized as disasters.

Generally speaking, these are all insurable events. Contingency planning often recommends insurance as a major component of preparedness along with remote working capabilities or alternative production resources. In privately held businesses, however, contingency planning has one weakness.

It assumes that the owner of the company will be available to oversee the implementation of the plan.

What if the disaster is at the top of the pyramid? Most businesses need a continuity plan that addresses the sudden absence of the owner. We start the conversation with a simple scenario.

“What if you are hit by a bus on the way to work tomorrow? You are rushed to the hospital, and no one knows where you are. When they find out, it appears that you will be unable to respond to questions for weeks, if not months. How will the business operate for that time?

Continuity Planning

Exit Planning is presumably designed around a voluntary departure from the business, but what if it isn’t voluntary? Where contingency planning looks at a variety of financial risks, continuity planning is focused on the operational problems of an owner’s absence.

Continuity planning starts with the most elementary task-based assignments. We ask questions like, who opens the business? Who informs the employees, the customers, the vendors, and the bank? How are they told, (By email, phone call, personal meeting, or teleconference?) Who distributes funds, draws down the credit line, and signs contracts? Are there specific customers or vendors who will require special treatment?

Additionally, if employees are expected to step up to a higher level of responsibility, will they receive contingent compensation attached to their added duties? Many owners rightfully anticipate that employees will shoulder additional duties out of loyalty, but loyalty has a limit. What if they are in this position for months?

Are there limits on the employees’ decision-making authority? Can they decide on new capital investments, or enter into new vendor relationships? If there is a dollar limit, who has the authority to exceed it if necessary? Who are the key advisors they should consult if they have questions? Is there a compensation agreement with those advisors if they need to be closely involved or engaged for an extended time period?

Contingency and Continuity

These are just a few of the operational answers required on Day One. The owner’s extended or permanent absence will also involve decisions about credit facilities, family income, real estate, working capital, buy/sell agreements, licenses, cybersecurity, and the long-term disposition of the business.

We take a practical look at the issues of an owner’s absence from the business, whether it is planned or unplanned. Continuity planning is just one component of modeling “life after the business.” For the great majority of exit planning discussions, it is a useful but not urgent exercise. If a Continuity plan is needed, however, it may be the most important thing we’ve done for that client.

John F. Dini develops transition and succession strategies that allow business owners to exit their companies on their own schedule, with the proceeds they seek and complete control over the process. He takes a coaching approach to client engagements, focusing on helping owners of companies with $1M to $250M in revenue achieve both their desired lifestyles and legacies.

Do You Suffer From Decision Addiction?

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Do you suffer from decision addiction?

The typical business owner lives on dopamine.  According to WebMD:

Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter. Your body makes it, and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. That’s why it’s sometimes called a chemical messenger. Dopamine plays a role in how we feel pleasure. It’s a big part of our uniquely human ability to think and plan.

Feeling the Rush

That’s what business owners do; think and plan. Their lives are a chain of thought processes that go “What if I do this? How will it affect the business? Then what would I do next? What would be the effect of that?”

An owner’s brain is trained to generate dopamine. That “What if? What if? What if?” chain is pleasurable. It’s the same neurotransmitter that is triggered by nicotine and alcohol, and the craving for that dopamine rush is the driving force of addiction.

That is why so many owners complain that their employees can’t make decisions and can’t think critically. They understand consciously that their businesses would run better if they groomed decision-makers, but unconsciously they are addicted to making decisions.

decision addictionEvery time an employee asks, “What should I do about this, boss?” there is a little rush. It’s like an old cartoon. The good angel is sitting on one shoulder saying “Make them go through the thought process themselves.” The little horned devil is on the other shoulder saying “Go ahead. Tell him just this once. It’s faster, and it feels good.”

Answer given. Another challenge surmounted. Pop! The little rush.

When the Rush Gets in the Way

Advisors are frequently frustrated by a client’s reluctance to implement their advice. They spend time and effort developing a course of action, and more time and effort explaining it to the client. The business owner client listens, agrees, and then does…nothing.

“I’m too busy running the business,” is a frequent excuse. What is really happening is that the owner is too busy feeding his or her dopamine rush. Owners are more likely to take action on their own decisions. Implementing someone else’s idea is antithetical to why they became entrepreneurs in the first place.

It feels good to be needed; to be the one who knows. Unfortunately, the more you run your business based on owner centricity™ the harder it is to sell, and the less it is worth. Like any addiction, it’s a tough habit to break

Breaking Decision Addiction

This is where I should offer a twelve-step program for breaking yourself of decision addiction. That’s pushing the analogy just a bit too far. I can. however, offer one tip that can get you started on the road to a more valuable company and more peace of mind for you.

Offer an enticing incentive for anyone making a decision for you. It should be instant, and worth a little effort. One possibility is to keep a stock of ten or twenty dollar bills in your desk. Anyone who comes to you with an issue and a proposed answer gets a bill.

The answer had to be sensible and practical. You could require it to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Resourced and Timely,) or you could set your standards. You will, of course, have to retain the final say over what qualifies. No one should earn a ten-spot for deciding whether to make the background on a flyer blue or yellow.

An answer doesn’t have to be the answer, but if it is unworkable, at least you have the opportunity to communicate your thought process, and at least the employee tried. He or she should still get the incentive for an honest effort.

Try it. You may be surprised at how much better it feels than that little bit of decision addiction.

This is an excerpt from my upcoming book The Exit Planning Coach’s Handbook, coming this fall. 

John F. Dini develops transition and succession strategies that allow business owners to exit their companies on their own schedule, with the proceeds they seek and complete control over the process. He takes a coaching approach to client engagements, focusing on helping owners of companies with $1M to $250M in revenue achieve both their desired lifestyles and legacies.

Non-Qualified Plans

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When I talk to business owners about “non-qualified plans,” their first reaction is often “Hold on there. I don’t want to get in trouble!”

The term “Non-qualified” merely refers to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, more commonly known as ERISA. As the title indicates, it is the basic set of regulations for retirement plans. If your company offers a 401K or SEP IRA, it has a Qualified Plan. If you have an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), that is also an ERISA plan.

Under the terms of ERISA, a plan must be made available to all employees. In return, the company can deduct contributions as benefit expenses, and the employee can contribute pretax income to the plan.

A non-qualified plan doesn’t comply with ERISA requirements.  It is discriminatory in nature, meaning it is not offered equally to all employees. The employee cannot make contributions, and the employer usually can’t deduct the costs of funding the plan (which is built around future benefits,) as of current expenses.

Most non-qualified plans are designed as Deferred Compensation, thus the common acronym NQDC. The concept is to offer key employees a carrot for long-term retention. It can be enhanced retirement funding, insurance, or one of many forms of synthetic equity in the business.

Non-qualified Plan Types

We can start with the simplest example of NQDC. If an employee remains with the company until retirement, he or she will receive an additional year’s salary upon retiring. This benefit is not sequestered in a secure account anywhere, it’s just a promise by the company. It’s known as an “unfunded” benefit. There is no annual statement, just a guaranty (typically in writing,) by the business.

Non-qualified plansOften, an NQDC is funded by an insurance policy with a death benefit and an increasing cash value. It is owned by the company, which pays the premiums. At retirement, the employee receives the paid-up policy. This approach has the added benefit of lending confidence to the process, as the employee can see the funding and growth of the future benefit.

Synthetic equity may be stock options, phantom stock, or Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs.) In most forms, it is the right to future compensation based on any increased value of the business. For example, if the business is valued at $2,000,000 today, the employee may be given a contractual right to 10% of the difference in value at the time of retirement. If the company is worth $3,000,000 then, the employee would receive $100,000. ($3,000,000 minus $2,000,000 times 10%.)

Valuation, Vesting, and Forfeiture

Non-qualified plans based on equity should have a formula for valuing the benefit. It may be any financial measure such as revenue, pre-tax profit, or EBITDA. The objective is to make it clear to both parties how the benefit will be measured.

Vesting is an opportunity to be creative. The benefit can vest gradually, or all at once at a specific point in the future. An employee may be able to collect once fully vested or, in the case of synthetic equity, may have the right to “let it ride” for future growth if other conditions are met.

Regardless of how attractive a benefit may be, no employment relationship lasts forever. Pay special attention to how you construct acceleration and forfeiture clauses. Of course, no one wants to pay out to an employee who has been terminated for cause, but the employee deserves some protection against being let go just because a promised benefit has gotten too expensive.

Similarly, provisions for accelerated valuation in the case of a change in ownership are common. You also may want to consider rolling the NQDC into a stay bonus agreement if you sell the business. If there are options on actual stock involved, you will need to determine the handling of them if they could pass into the hands of someone other than the employee. That would be triggered by bankruptcy, divorce, or death.

Benefits of Non-Qualified Plans

As I described in my book Hunting in a Farmer’s World, incentives for employees should match their level of responsibility. Production workers have incentives based on their production. Managers have incentives based on their ability to manage.

Your very best people, the ones you want to stay with you through their entire careers, should be able to participate in the long-term results of their efforts for the company. Non-qualified plans are a way to single them out and emphasize your interest in sharing what you are building together.

As always. check with your tax advisor. Setting a plan up incorrectly could result in unwanted or phantom taxation for the company or the employee.

John F. Dini develops transition and succession strategies that allow business owners to exit their companies on their own schedule, with the proceeds they seek and complete control over the process. He takes a coaching approach to client engagements, focusing on helping owners of companies with $1M to $250M in revenue achieve both their desired lifestyles and legacies.

Will You Be Ready?

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calendar with one pink flag to mark a special dateWill you be ready when it is time to leave your company? A business owner needs to have a basic business strategy to monitor company financials regularly. Several owners consider this a strategy to prepare for exiting their businesses. However, monitoring company financials is like looking in the rearview mirror. What if you could incorporate a business strategy that looks forward and leads to accelerating profitability and increases business value? In addition, this strategy helps lead to less stress, more free time, and ultimately helps take control of a business exit?

The Active Strategy

The Business Strategy is called Exit Planning. John H. Brown, author of How to Run Your Business So You Can Leave it in Style, writes: “Exit Planning is a process that results in the creation and execution of a strategy allowing business owners to exit their businesses on their terms and conditions. It is an established process that creates a written road map, or Exit Plan, often involving efforts of several professionals, facilitated and led by an Exit Planning Advisor who ensures not only the plan creation but its timely execution.”

Unfortunately, most business owners do not employ this strategy. They are personally unprepared, and their business is not ready when it comes time for them to transition. Ultimately, there is less control over the timing of the exit and even less control over the value they receive when they do exit their business entirely.

What can you do?

Consider this when building an exit strategy:

1. Focus – Adhere to the niche the company serves. Buyers place a premium valuation on focused companies that do one thing very well, better than others. Do not stray from the niche because it destroys value.

2. Develop a Management Team & Reduce Owner Dependency – Ensure the management team can carry on without the business owner when the business sells. It is difficult for the business owner to disengage while they still actively manage. But this is precisely when the owner can create more value—because when the business is not exclusively dependent on the owner, it is worth more! Ask yourself, if I leave today for an extended length of time, will the success of my business be impaired? If your answer is yes, you have not created value. You have created a glorified job.

3. Assess Your Business – Prepare an objective assessment of the company’s current position and potential. A simple SWOT analysis is beneficial. Write down the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats of the company.

4. Ensure the Business Has Adequate Capital – The lending markets are often more willing to lend in good times than in bad times. Are you maxing out your credit lines, or do you have a comfortable margin of credit? Are you happy with your current lending relationship? Evaluate alternatives and review your loan covenants regularly.

5. Clean Up the Balance Sheet – Collect past due accounts or write them off if uncollectable. Review customer credit policies. Clean up inventory and take it off the books if obsolete or unsellable. Diligently track personal expenses run through the business. And lastly, call in loans to shareholders and employees.

6. Obtain Financial Audit of Business – Frequently, the company’s accounting has not grown at the speed of the company’s growth. An audit prepared by an objective third-party accounting firm provides a high level of credibility to the business performance.

7. Protect Key Personnel – Obtain employment and non-compete agreements from key employees. The last thing you want is someone leaving just before you decide to exit. The buyer is looking for continuity of Key Personnel. If you have not already tied your integral people to the business, it may be far more expensive to do so at the time of sale.

8. Identify & Mitigate Legal & Environmental Risks – Working with your liability insurance advisor is essential. Unfortunately, until the buyer brings up the subject, this is often left undone.

9. Review Customer Concentration & Overall Operations – Are your vendor contracts assumable/transferable upon sale? Do you derive more than 20% of your revenue from one customer or client?

10. Build Your Team of Advisors – Establish a strong team of qualified accounting, tax, legal, financial, and investment banking professionals. Invite them together at one meeting to establish your expectations of collaboration around your personal & financial goals. Establish recurring management meetings to monitor progress.

While there are many competing needs for a business owner’s time, working on an exit strategy can result in less stress and more time to do the things you want to do instead of need to do. In addition, an exit planning strategy can also enhance profitability and business value, resulting in a win-win for the owner, the owner’s family, and the employees of the business.

Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network®, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Fixed insurance products and services offered through Legacy Planning Partners, LLC or CES Insurance Agency.

Jan Graybill is a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP), and holds the Certified Exit Planning Advisor® (CEPA), Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU) professional designations. He is a Managing Partner and CEO of Legacy Planning Partners. For more information about Jan, click here.