There are many factors to consider when you are looking to find the kind of help that many business families eventually require. This usually arrives around the time that the family realizes that their leading generation will someday need to make way for the rising generation.
Most will have an inkling that they will need to do “something, someday”, long before they actually start to act upon those feelings, and that’s only natural.
Structural Issues
Often the impetus to act will come from a business advisor of some sort, like an accountant or a lawyer. In any inter-generational transfer, there are plenty of legal and structural issues that will need to be taken care of, for obvious reasons.
What remains less obvious to many, is that the legal and structural “paperwork” is only the beginning. These official documents deal mostly with the “what”, but very rarely get into the crucial details of the “how”.
If this is all news to you, there are dozens of other blog posts on this site that you can read to get my drift. For those who are already on board, I will now segue into the thrust of this post, about how to choose your family business consultant.
Don’t Allow Family Issues to Get Lost
Here are my Top 5 things to consider before deciding on who is best suited to helping you with these crucial matters:
- Overlap of Business and Family
Does the person that you are going to engage, to help lead your transition, truly understand that most of the key issues that you will be facing involve both the business AND your family?
A business focus without understanding the family issues is no better than a “family therapist” focus with no understanding of business and wealth.
- Business > Family OR Family > Business?
Do they come from a background where they naturally lean toward business solutions, or from one where family harmony is the driving force?
Which is more important to them, which is more important to you and your family, and is it the same for both? Should it be the same, or should there be a counter-balance? Some semblance of balance should not be overlooked.
There is no right or wrong here, but you need to comprehend this point.
- Do they LISTEN, and to WHOM?
So many professionals who work with business families are used to taking orders form one PERSON (the boss) and the rest of the family are merely an afterthought.
When advising a business family, ideally the FAMILY is the client. That is a huge leap, and one that is never easy to make.
Some advisors don’t get this, and some can understand it in theory but find it impossible in practice. Beware the “yes man” advisor.
- Beware: “I have THE solution for YOU”
Recycling is great for your garbage, not so much for your family legacy. If your consultant arrives with lots of “ready-made” solutions that they have used with others in their experience, please ask LOTS of questions
Buying a suit off the rack is okay, but a plan for YOUR family’s legacy should be custom-made for YOUR family.
- There is no “Free Lunch”
Good professional advice is not free, and shouldn’t be either. Some providers, usually in the asset management space, will promise to do many things for their wealthy clients “for free”.
There is not necessarily anything wrong with this, IF you understand and accept the terms and conditons that go with that.
Buying based on “low price” is not recommended either, but understanding HOW advisors are compensated should not be overlooked.
IFEA “Seal of Approval”
In Canada, over the past several years a few hundred people have been through the multi-disciplinary Family Enterprise Advisor program and a couple of hundred have then gone on to become “FEA” designates.
As one of them, I have a certain bias, and look at the letters “FEA” as kind of a “seal of approval”.
The field is evolving and many professionals are trying to find ways to capitalize on the huge demographic wealth transfer that is now underway.
All FEA designates have been through a thorough program and a rigorous certification process.
Please do your homework, and choose well.