CONTINUITY PLANNING

 

 

 

 

My Father's story

For Entrepreneurs, there are many issues to consider when planning Continuity.  Interestingly, although there are many important planning steps to take, very often things don’t get done because “we are changing/growing/retrenching/restructuring/might be bought out/might go public/might retire/might bring children into the business/changing banks/buying a competitor”  etc etc.

My father was an entrepreneur.  He had some minor successes but one big failure.  The failure wasn’t my father’s “fault”, but the repercussions were permanent.

For about two years, my father worked on a new venture.  While putting together this new business, there was no income coming in so things were tight financially.  The business was bringing modular homes from the manufacturer in Minnesota, where his business partner lived, to Vancouver.  My father was to handle all the Vancouver-end of things – real estate acquisition, sales, financing.

I came home from school one day and my father unexpectedly was there, and not too happy.  His partner had died!  In my grade ten way of understanding I learned that the business died that day too.  The connection with the manufacturer was lost when the Minnesotan died.  My father never really recovered.

If today, the owners of a private company tell me they don’t need a shareholder’s agreement and they don’t need any life insurance because the value isn’t there yet, I have good personal reasons for thinking and advising otherwise!