While in Antigua on our Rotary project some of us got to talking about how a couple key team members are always running late and putting out fires. As per Steven Covey’s book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” they are constantly in the “Urgent and Important” quadrant.
One of my friends said, “I’m a planner, as are you (all)” This means we’re usually in the “Not Urgent and Important” quadrant, working ahead of the curve
It amazes me when I run into a business owner who wants to sell and the structure is a C-corp. Inevitably he or she will tell me their CPA told them many times over the years to convert to an S-corp but they never got around to it. Now they’re looking at double taxation or a complicated maneuver or two to avoid double taxation. They never got around to planning.
Recently I met three owners who told me they all want to be out in two years. “That ain’t going to happen” I said, and we put in an employee buy-in succession plan. The planning part has them starting to reduce their workload as others do more.
Exit planning really does mean planning (in advance).
“We are all born to die. The difference is the intensity with which we choose to live.” Gina Lollobrigida
“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” Mark Twain
