“What happens to the business if I'm not here?”
Your business pays for your family, your team and your future. It probably also depends on you more than you'd like to admit.
Three things I hear most
If I got seriously ill, the business would stall.
Owners are often the business's biggest asset, and the least protected one.
My partner and I have never really talked about 'what if'.
Without a plan, a partner's family could end up as your new business partner.
All my money is tied up in the business.
A business is a great asset but a hard one to turn into income, especially in a hurry.
Four groups of people your business depends on
Every business plan should protect four groups of people. Here are the questions I ask owners on our call. How many can you answer today?
Your team
Key person protection · Keeping great people
- What would happen if you lost your most important person?
- What's in place to protect the business if you did?
- How do you reward your best people for staying?
Your partners
Buy-sell agreements & how they're funded
- Do you have a buy-sell agreement?
- Is there money set aside to carry it out?
- When did you last review it?
Your family
Income replacement · Owner retirement · Care
- Would your family be okay without your income?
- What's your plan if you or your spouse needed long-term care?
- Apart from the business, what do you have for retirement?
Your heirs
Estate planning · Fairness · Giving
- How is the business included in your estate plan?
- If one child runs the business, how will the others be treated fairly?
- Would you like your giving to go further?
Can't answer all twelve? That's normal, and it's exactly what we work through together, alongside your attorney and CPA.
Solutions built for you
We don't do all of this at once. Your scorecard shows which one to start with.
Key person protection
Money to steady the business if you lose someone it can't run without.
Buy-sell funding
A clear, funded plan so partners and families aren't left guessing.
Keeping your best people
Benefits that reward key team members for staying for the long run.
Owner retirement
A future that doesn't depend only on selling the business one day.
Protecting your family
Your household keeps going if your income from the business stops.
Legacy & succession
Pass the business on smoothly, and treat every heir fairly.
Fit, not perfect
- The business could keep going if you, or a key person, were off for a long stretch.
- You and your partners have agreed, in writing, what happens if one of you is no longer around.
- Your personal plan doesn't rely only on selling the business one day.
- Your family knows where everything is, business and personal.
Two partners running a growing services firm in San Jose with a small team.
Their scorecard showed good personal habits but a low Business Continuity score: no agreement on what would happen if one of them was no longer around.
On the call we mapped out the one conversation they needed to have first. Their attorney and accountant took it from there, and we check in every year.
A general example to show how the process works. Not a real client, and not a recommendation.
Start with a 4-minute check-up
Seven areas, one personal report. See what's strong and where the quiet gaps are. No pitch.
Get My Financial Fitness ScoreNot quite you? See how I help