When Kathy and I finished our last estate plan, we had a son with autism whom we believed may never be able to work, an immature teenage daughter and no grandchildren. Now we have grandchildren, our son has a job, and our daughters are married and more mature. It’s time for us to update our will based on our changing ...
Years ago, a brother and sister inherited a small business when both parents died suddenly. Both siblings worked in the business, but the brother inherited control of the company. Suddenly he became the executor of the estate, the chairman of the board and the acting CEO. He had to manage three different roles while grieving the death of his parents ...
A friend has been helping me develop a succession plan for the ministry of Unconventional Business Network. One of the first steps he recommended was to consider the vision I have for the ministry 10 years down the road. To help with that step, I began developing a futuristic organizational chart. Asking the question, “What kind of people will we ...
According to an article on investmentbank.com, roughly 40% of family-owned businesses will have leadership changes over the next 5 years. Succession planning has never been more important! Most adults do not have a will, so it’s not surprising that many business owners have no succession plan for their business. Our mortality is not a subject on which many of us ...
Every year around April 15th, many new entrepreneurs receive shocking and unexpected news from their tax preparer. They owe a lot more tax than they have cash available. Why does this happen? When you receive a paycheck, taxes are withheld automatically, but as an entrepreneur you are paid a gross amount of money without accounting for taxes. The IRS wants ...
The first tip I have for startup businesses is to “Recognize when you’ve become a business.” My youngest daughter didn’t intend to start a business when she began posting social media videos. As millions viewed her videos, suddenly money was deposited into her account for becoming a “social media influencer.” It was time for her to recognize that she had ...
In this series, we are looking at five traits common to successful entrepreneurs and how unconventional business leaders should approach each. Today’s focus is Complete Humility. Successful entrepreneurs recognize their weaknesses and gaps, look for partners that can fill those gaps, and negotiate to get what they need in a win/win approach. You might call this “humility,” but the Bible ...
Recently, Kathy and I had the opportunity to tour the facilities of Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa. One of the more impressive parts of the tour was witnessing the thought given to developing efficient processes in all parts of this enormous plant. Vermeer’s pursuit of continuous improvement has no bounds. They even chose to analyze the processes around their company ...
Mackenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos’ former wife, recently announced that she is giving $2.7 billion to 286 charities. That’s on average almost $10 million per charity. Too often organizations who receive a large one-time gift find ruin when they add expenses based on the new gift, hoping to replace the funds in later years. Many businesses also find themselves in trouble ...
Years ago, my family took a raft trip down the Colorado River. As we hit rough water, one person went overboard. Everyone worked to pull him back in and then relaxed for a moment - until we rounded a curve into another round of rapids. One thought helped me remain calm. Our guide knew what was coming next. We have ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
