Ben Venter, AR

As a financial adviser specialising in business insurance, I spend most of my time creating comprehensive business succession planning strategies.  In its most limited form, a business succession plan is a strategy agreed to between the owners in a business that will enable business owners to exit the business upon retirement.  This allows the owners to liquidate the equity they have built over the years in an organised manner to fund their retirement, and in many cases, to pass on this significant contribution to their estate.

This type of agreement is precariously deficient however, as it does not take into consideration that the business owners may be forced into retirement.  The chances that any one of us will experience a significant and unplanned health event during our lifetime such as injury, illness, or death, are actually quite high.  For example, of the Australians who retired early, 41% did so because they were too sick or too injured to return to work (6.6% had the financial resources to retire, and 52% could not find work. (Australian Bureau of Statistics – Retirement and Retirement Intentions, Australia (6238.0); Disability, Aging & Carers: Summary of Findings; National Health Survey 1995)

A well-structured business succession plan considers these risk factors by formulating a strategy to address the possibility that the business owner may experience Death, Total and Permanent Disability, and/or Temporary Disability.  Generally, the strategy should focus on the following areas -

▪ Protecting the owners against a forced sale of assets in the business,

▪ Protecting the owners against a drop in revenue in their business, and

▪ Protecting the owners against the potential disorder and cost of an unplanned transition in the ownership of the business.

As I tell my business clients, it is important to also review their affairs in general to assess potential outside risk that could also impact their business.  This means that business clients will require more than just a traditional accountancy service.  For example, we help business owners-managers and directors improve profitability and efficiency by using advanced business development solutions.  We investigate many areas of their business, including:

▪ Looking at the business from an asset protection viewpoint to develop an adequate business structure

▪ Streamlining businesses systems and processes

▪ Offering corporate advisory solutions

At The MBA Partnership, as a member of Count Financial Limited, we have an experienced team that offers an extensive range of services to help small to medium enterprises and taxpayers with their financial needs, from accounting and taxation services through to business management and forensic services, to retirement and succession planning.  Our team has the expertise to support you whether you’re starting out in business, about to go public or about to retire.

Please note taxation and accounting services do not fall under Count’s AFSL.

General advice warning: The advice provided is general advice only as, in preparing it we did not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs. Before making an investment decision on the basis of this advice, you should consider how appropriate the advice is to your particular investment needs, and objectives. You should also consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement before making any decision relating to a financial product.