Family Business Succession

Succession planning is a forward-looking process that ensures the effective performance and transition of your organization by providing coaching for leadership development and replacement while retaining family harmony and good will. Could your banker, accountant, lawyer, insurance broker or financial planner do that? Not likely. And if they could, would you want them to? Often business-owning families don't know who to call. If you have a problem that's not quite right for any of your regular professional advisors then you probably need a Family Business Advisor (FBA).

Consulting

MTH helps business owners and their families sort out the complex aspects of succession planning. When we think about the dynamics of family businesses we think about the interplay between their three systems: owners, family and the business. We're usually called because the family and business are ready to move forward with their plans or something has happened that's affecting one or more of the systems.

Succession planning involves working with owners and family members to determine future ownership, employment and resource allocations for those working in the business and those outside it. This could be a second-generation sibling partnership with one or more third generation employees.

Sometimes we work with business-owning families where there is a lot of goodwill, trust and even temperament that are ready to discuss future ownership, roles and responsibilities. In this case we help them clarify goals, overcome barriers, identify development needs and implement the plan.

More often we work with families who can agree on one thing only: We have to do something. We have worked with families where it's taken a year before they could manage their behavior well enough to hold a business meeting. We have worked with fathers and sons that have not spoken in years.

Facilitation

MTH facilitates people having crucial conversations about what's on their minds and in their hearts concerning the future of their business and the family members involved. Money, power, control and business ownership mixed with family ideals of unconditional love are dynamite combinations. These are high stakes meetings where the goals to achieve and maintain family harmony, solve problems and make decisions can be derailed by not reaching an agreement, potential conflict, unresolved misunderstandings and fear of speaking resulting in continued inertia. We bring the third party perspective along with experience and proven processes to clarify understandings, reach agreements and to move forward.

Examples of this work include: formalizing the business aspects of the family by creating a family council, behaviors at work and in the community, aligning behaviors with expectations, business-first/family-first issues, ability/willingness performance issues, sorting out issues dealing with power, control and ownership, current and future family business partners, confronting and resolving conflicts that steal energy and diminish performance and resignation/termination of a family member.

Getting Started

We start with a "chemistry meeting" to determine if there is a fit between the consultant's skills, ability and personality and the needs of the family. This could be a single meeting with the leading generation or may include several meetings that include members of succeeding generations. This is considered part of the needs assessment and contracting phase and generally there is no charge for these meetings.

The chemistry meeting results in the development of a proposal that describes the nature and scope of the work, goals, timelines and project costs. Before the engagement begins everyone knows what's involved and agrees to the process.

For most families this is the first time they have worked with a family business advisor and there is some uncertainty. Families worry about their "secrets" and entrepreneurs think they can do "it" themselves. Non-disclosure agreements between the consultant and the family are common and may be signed at any phase of the meeting process to ensure your privacy

Doing something means you're finally going to have to deal with "it." Yes, family business work is very personal but the risks are worth the rewards. MTH has worked on many family business issues and transitions and, in our experience, the things you find most personal and unique are also the most universal. Working with an FBA has a beginning and an end. Once the goals are reached the engagement is over. You are also free to terminate the work at any phase of the process - something you may not do if you were working with other long-time professional advisors. Read client testimonials.

Tools to Go It Alone

If you're still not convinced that engaging a Family Business Advisor is the way to go then you want to pick up the road map we wrote just for family business owners -Exit Right: ® A guided tour of succession planning for families-in-business-together. This Canadian best selling business book is the ideal tool to support and guide your transition. We have provided you with the Introduction Chapter.

I endorse Linda Fairburn and the work she did to help our company in its succession and strategic planning processes.

As part of our planning process, we were making offers of partnership to some of our key employees. We needed to put together a partnership package that addressed the numerous questions and concerns of these select employees. We wanted to make a strong initial partnership offer that clarified our candidates’ issues and was agreeable to all the parties involved. This was an important piece in our succession and growth strategy, one that had been stalled for some time. We needed to get it right the first time and we needed it fast.

Linda conducted independent, objective and confidential interviews with our perspective partners. She has an engaging personality and easily gained the trust necessary to collect the information that was critical to writing our partnership agreement. She prepared an anonymous report with recommendations for what to include in the agreement.

We used her recommendations in drafting our partnership agreement, one that was ultimately accepted by the candidates. I was impressed with Linda’s ability to readily understand our business strategy and succession plan and to bring in the missing pieces.

Based on my experience I don’t hesitate to recommend Linda for her people skills, practical experience and knowledge of succession planning.

Bernard Melloul, Chairman, Founder
Melloul- Blamey Construction Inc.
Waterloo and Barrie Ontario Canada and Greenville, South Carolina

My family and I would highly recommend Linda Fairburn as a family business advisor. We’ve worked together and stayed in touch for many years and continue to rely on her advice.

We operate a family owned, multi-generational funeral services business employing myself and two of my three children.

When we first started working with Linda, our goal was to figure out how to address the needs of all the children with regards to the business, especially the one not involved. We wondered whether there was a right way of bringing the children into the business. And finally, we didn’t know if the kids had the management skills or desire necessary to take over the company in the future

With skill and sensitivity Linda guided our family through some difficult moments to a place of clarity and direction.

We developed a plan for our family that included an assessment of our family’s beliefs. We identified our common values and visions and used them to write a mission statement for our family. Then we created a formal family council with guidelines for keeping it going.

We then worked on a strategic plan for the business. We assessed the current and future jobs and roles of family members and long-term employees against the plan.

Finally we produced a development plan for everyone involved with the business.

As a result of working with Linda, we created a framework for separating business functions from family gatherings and we have been able to continue to assess current work place skills against future training and development requirements of our business and industry.

In all of our dealings Linda was knowledgeable, competent and trustworthy and her advice was professional, insightful and valuable.

Paul Newbigging, President
Murray E. Newbigging Funeral Home Ltd.
Toronto , Ontario, Canada

We engaged Linda Fairburn as our family advisor to take us through the following process. We scheduled monthly meetings for four hours each that Linda conducted and still have every month. They were very difficult in the beginning but are great today as most of the issues are behind us. We call this the Family Council where we decide to manage ourselves on a monthly basis, sharing our issues, experiences, wants, needs and business updates at each meeting. I now look forward to them, ensuring that each and every one of them is productive.

Barney Strassburger
Twincorp Inc.
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada