Family Business Succession Planning

Wayne Rivers is the co-founder and President of The Family Business Institute, Inc. that has been around for over 28 years. He is an author of four books on family business and has been quoted in many articles for large publications like Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur, The New York Times, and Washington Post. Wayne is also a Wall Street Journal panelist, a speaker, and has appeared on the Today Show, CNN, MSNBC, and CNBC.

Needless to say, he really knows his stuff! In his 28 years at The Family Business Institute, Wayne has worked with many families in all kinds of situations. On the podcast, he tells us stories of different encounters he has had with families over the years. His main goals are business prosperity and family harmony for all of his family business clients. The biggest question they have to answer first is, are you a business family or a family business?

In today’s episode, you will learn:

• How to prosper in a family business and also have family harmony
• How to avoid complacency in your business
• The importance of reinventing your business
• Significance of bringing in good talent
• Bridge management techniques
• Importance of modelling out your financials to make decisions
• Defining roles, responsibilities, and compensation in family businesses
• Phantom stock arrangement for non-family members
• Key elements of a good buy-sell agreement
• Reasons for keeping real, solid financials

Wayne explains how a family business needs to plan ahead for successions to make sure everyone is on the same page with where the business is going. Family businesses need to bring in top talent, not just keep it in the family. He also discusses how these days you always have to be looking to reinvent the business and not become complacent.

“A business’s destruction is sewn, today, with those seeds of complacency because it’s so unbelievably hard to sustain anything over long periods of time. You’ve got to reinvent but the second component of that is so important. It’s the most important thing that I could share with family businesses, is you’re in a people business. Even if you’re in the IT business, you’re still in the people business. If you’re not out there creating a new vision, reinventing your company and then attracting the best people all the time, you’re not going to make it,” says Wayne.

Listen to the full episode to hear more words of wisdom on family business from Wayne Rivers. Thanks to Wayne for sharing his experience with us and I hope you all enjoy today’s episode! Please leave me any comments you have in the section below.

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Contact Information and Bio for Wayne:

Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-rivers-3948451/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FamBizDoctor
Company Website: https://www.familybusinessinstitute.com/
Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FamilyBusinessInstitute/

Wayne Rivers is the co-founder and President of The Family Business Institute, Inc.  He has authored four books on the subject of business families the latest of which is Our Family Business Crisis and How It Make Us Stronger.  Wayne has appeared on the Today Show, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, “BusinessWeek: WEEKEND” and on the Retirement Living Network.

Wayne is a Wall Street Journal Expert Panelist.  He has also been quoted on the subject of family and closely held businesses by Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur, CFO, Family Business, The New York Times, Washington Post, and by many other trade, local, regional, and national publications.  He has written hundreds of articles for various magazines and trade publications and has produced an acclaimed blog for over 15 years.  He has done workshops and lectures for North American Home Furnishings Association, Harley-Davidson, CCA Global, YPO, ACA International, Associated General Contractors of America, National Association of Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Contractors, American Council of Engineering Companies, American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, Window and Door Manufacturers Association, National Funeral Directors Association, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, University of Wisconsin, University of Pittsburgh, Wake Forest University, Virginia Tech, University of Hawaii, Babson College, UNC Asheville, and many others.

Wayne oversees The CEO Performance Roundtable program which helps commercial construction CEOs make more money in less time with fewer headaches and a higher quality of life through a process of peer review and accountability.  Wayne has also been honored as a Fellow of the Family Firm Institute.