Benefit from Our Approach

Because every business is unique, every business transition calls for a different strategy. Our team uses a multi-disciplinary process to objectively review your:

• Business situation
• Industry positioning
• Family fact pattern
• Shareholder and organization dynamics

We analyze the tax, financial, and business issues that affect and concern you, and integrate your business succession goals with your personal, financial and estate goals. We build upon your current planning to help you create a viable business transition plan. With you and your advisors, we:

• Review current planning
• Pinpoint objectives
• Identify gaps in planning
• Evaluate viable options and strategies
• Prepare models to illustrate alternative options and strategies
• Facilitate informed decision making
• Coordinate implementation of the plan
• Provide ongoing administration and monitoring
• Conduct annual reviews and analyses

Navigating the Keep/Sell Decision
We have helped hundreds of clients tackle this decision. A well-designed exit strategy starts with a review of the options available. The exit strategy could be internal or external; both should be evaluated.

Option 1:
Keep the business and pass it on to the next generation. The documents in place may not fully reflect your desires. Shareholder agreements, employment contracts, family compensation programs and mentoring of the next generation are some areas that should be reviewed. In addition, a family strategic plan should be developed including valuation, proper use of gifting and transfers, evaluation of the estate tax impact, and other strategies to protect and preserve the business. Effective coordination of all the advisors working in concert is critical.

Option 2:
Sell the business: Often there is not a well -designed exit strategy. Comprehensive planning can maximize the wealth to the family for many years to come. More often, “net value” is overlooked and should be paramount in the planning process. Net value is the total proceeds to the family after taxes and expenses. Pre-sale and post-sale planning strategies should be reviewed in conjunction with any transaction.

Every Business is in Transition

Throughout the lifecycle of their business, owners face many decisons regarding their business and family. Some of these decisions can be among the most difficult, yet potentially the most rewarding. At the very heart is, “Do I keep the business or do I sell it? ”Too often, owners don’t have the time or the resources to properly plan for the transition of their business. The Benchmark Group can help you navigate these choices and decide on the best course of action.
Ask yourself the following:

Should I keep or sell my business? What’s my exit strategy?
What are my options?

If my business is growing, do I need to raise capital or
merge in order to increase its value?

If the plan is to keep the business, who is going to run it:
a family member, key employee(s), or an outsider?

• How do I differentiate between active and
  in-active children?
• What is the exit strategy of the senior
  generation owner?
• What experience and expertise does the
  successor have to enhance value?
• What is the role of my key management team
  in the future?

If the plan is to sell the business, who is going to own it?

• How do I maximize its value?
• Is the appropriate buyer a strategic or financial buyer?
• What pre-sale planning can I undertake in order to maximize benefits to my family and key employees? How do I position my business for the ultimate exit strategy?
• Is it viable to bring in an outside financial partner?
  • If so, should it be for a minority or majority stake?
• Should I sell it to an internal group and how will the transaction be financed?

Add The Benchmark Group to Your Business Transiti on Team
In order to make sound decisions, business owners need to know their options, yet they aren’t always presented with all of them. As one of the few independent advisory firms in the country offering comprehensive business succession and investment banking services, our team helps you navigate the rough waters of business transition decisions. We built our firm around multiple disciplines needed to help you maximize the value of your business and accomplish your goals. The Benchmark Group can present you with an educated and unbiased array of business transition alternatives.