Sucession planning

[Cowcrazy100]

You’ve given me lots to think about Bez.

Succession planning is a complex topic because it’s not the same for everyone… I think for me that’s what I struggle with. What works for one family might not work for another. Every farm business is different and every family is unique. I think that I need someone to sit down with my family learn about our situation and then say ok here are your options. Often, some things you might have never considered if it wasn’t for someone from the outside coming in to help.

[smcgrath76]

CC100 - you are right with your last comment. We spent quite a bit of money at the accountant and they wound up saying here is option a, b, c, etc. but not directing us. To be fair, that was our fault as we did not go in saying "here is where we want to get to, how we think our business will look (size, people involved, people entering and people leaving, etc.) and what we want to do. When we did go with this approach it was way cheaper, they could specify the best options and the results were much better.
The whole family dynamic and goals need to be discussed prior to the legal/accounting/etc. if you believe that a business is there to support a life and not the other way around.