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Engines At The Ready

Red Rocket is a $150 million manufacturing and distribution company located on the outskirts of a major American city. The company's focus is the manufacturing and distribution of children's toy cars, trucks, ambulances, and helicopters etc. This second generation company has been in existence since 1955. The company's workforce of 175 includes a sales team of 25 across North America, Europe and Australia. The company is family-owned and has always been profitable. Suggestions to go public have been dismissed, as they have worked hard to develop and maintain strong professional managers, and have little employee turnover.

Strategic Succession Planning:  An Underutilized Resource

Ask a typical businessperson what a succession plan is and he or she will likely tell you that it is having documents in place to provide for the passing of the business and other assets to the next generation in a tax-efficient manner. Business people who have such documentation in place should be applauded because surveys indicate that most business owners are not there yet – even those who say they plan to exit the business within five years.

Beating the Odds

A recent survey of small-to-medium sized businesses (SMEs) in Canada by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) found that only 35% of business owners have a plan to exit their business. Of those with a plan, only 23% have a process for identifying a successor and just 38% have a process for training one.

Healthy Family Outcomes

The very nature of business often seems to contradict the nature of the family. Families tend to be emotional; businesses are objective. Families are protective of their members; business much less so. Families grant acceptance unconditionally. Businesses grant it according to one’s contribution. These and other conflicts can generate a good deal of ambiguity and stress for family members.