Marketing to family businesses checklist.A unique demographic bubble is occurring: The men and women who started businesses after World War II are reaching retirement age. This means many family businesses face issues--management succession, compensation, estate planning Estate Planning The overall planning of a person's wealth, including the preparation of a will and the planning of taxes after the individual's death. Notes: Contrary to popular belief, estate planning involves much more than preparing a will, and it is not only for the , business valuation and future control and direction of the business that require more than the usual assistance from professional advisers. These and other issues give CPAs an opportunity to expand their practices, but special technical and interpersonal skills "Interpersonal skills" refers to mental and communicative algorithms applied during social communications and interactions in order to reach certain effects or results. The term "interpersonal skills" is used often in business contexts to refer to the measure of a person's ability are needed. REQUIRED RELATIONSHIP SKILLS CPAs must be Willing to develop relationships with multiple generations involved in the family business. * Good listeners as family members sort through complex business and relationship issues. * Able to distinguish between when it's possible for clients to solve problems themselves and when professional psychological help is needed. * Comfortable convening con·vene v. con·vened, con·ven·ing, con·venes v.intr. To come together usually for an official or public purpose; assemble formally. v.tr. 1. a group of family members to discuss both the company's finances and its future. EXPOSURE AND EXPERTISE IN THE FAMILY BUSINESS MARKET CPAs should be * Willing to learn more about family businesses by attending conferences and seminars or joining professional organizations. * Able to develop sufficient family business expertise to position themselves and their firms as offering value-added services A value-added service (VAS) is a telecommunications industry term for non-core services or, in short, all services beyond standard voice calls and fax transmissions. . * Prepared to market their services using seminars, newsletters and similar means focusing on family business topics. * Available to speak to local organizations such as the Kiwanis or Chamber of Commerce on succession planning Management Succession Planning In organizational development, succession planning is the process of identifying and preparing suitable employees through mentoring, training and job rotation, to replace key players — such as the chief executive officer (CEO) — and related topics to attract new clients. RANGE OF SERVICES CPAs need to * Be able to address a range of family business concerns, including improving efficiency and productivity, deciding which family member should hold which position, how to compensate family and nonfamily employees, how to value and sell the business and how to resolve conflicts between nonsibling family members (between son and niece NIECE, domestic relations: The daughter of a person's brother or sister. Amb. 514; 1 Jacob's Ch. R. 207. , for example). * Be aware of techniques that can help prevent business and interpersonal in·ter·per·son·al adj. 1. Of or relating to the interactions between individuals: interpersonal skills. 2. problems in a family-owned organization. * Advise family businesses on the advantages and disadvantages of outside directors and assist them in establishing a board that will truly help them. Adapted from Working with Family Businesses: A Guide for Professionals, by David Bork, Dennis T. Jaffe, Sam H. Lane, Leslie Dashew and Quentin G. Heisler (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , 1996). |
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