The Family Business Succession from Thomson Reuters provides a practical approach to family business succession planning. It has been written by Sue Prestney, Partner, MGI Melbourne and currently National Chairperson of MGI Australia.
The guide capitalises on Sue’s extensive experience in working with family and private businesses for over 30 years. She specialises in family business advising, including taxation advice, succession planning, valuations issues, transaction support including preparing businesses for sale.
The book is an essential guide, not only for advisers to small business, but for SMEs themselves. Written in a clear and concise style, the guide looks in detail at the tax issues surrounding succession, but also provides an excellent guide on management succession (eg the board, future business leaders, employing family members), and equity succession for family businesses (eg structure, form of transfers, buy-outs, asset protection, estate planning).
Containing many practical examples, checklists, diagrams and case studies, direct from Sue’s first-hand experiences, this guide outlines the practical process that can be used for a succession planning assignment together with the questionnaires, a family meeting agenda and index for a family business constitution.
The guide also helpfully includes a CD-ROM which contains planning checklists that can be used as templates by advisors and SMEs themselves to ensure they get off to a good start on succession planning. The checklists cover issues such as getting started, working with a family business facilitator, developing a family participation plan, preparing a management development plan, and steps to grooming a successor. The CD also includes other templates and forms covering, for example, Objectives of the Family Business, Management Philosophy, Agenda – Family Meeting, Family/Business Interaction, and Family Values.