NOVEMBER 2017 GERMINATION.CA 13 PACKING & PALLETIZING COMPANY PPC PROVIDING CUSTOM BAGGING, TAGGING AND PALLETIZING SOLUTIONS BULK BAG FILLER PALLETIZER T: (204) 331-3000 www.ppcinc.ca E: tp@ppcinc.ca TAG PLACER valuation was our second biggest challenge, after coming up with the right management model.” Get Out Now, or Get Out Later? If you’re a business owner looking to retire or get out of the business to pursue something else, you have to decide early on whether you want to sell and be done with it, or engage in the long-term process of guiding the business as you carefully pass it on. Selling it quickly may not pay off as much as you think, Maxwell adds. “If you just want to walk away and be free, you won’t get as much for the business you’ve spent a long time building. This process can have very long payout, and that takes patience. I’m my dad’s retirement plan, in a way. He’s not sitting around waiting for his pension to pay out.” Choosing to take the longer road to succession planning can be more fulfilling and lucrative, but comes with its own challenges as well. Having two people running a busi- ness that used to be overseen by one person can lead to some disagree- ments, Guthrie says, so it’s important to have a formal plan in place. “You look at Dana and David’s situation — under what terms is she going to make decisions? How will David make decisions? Those were questions they had to ask themselves, and I think that’s the foundation of their success to this point — the fact they tackled those questions head-on. They started with an appropriate time frame in mind, talked about the difficult issues, and came up with written working agree- ments that dealt with that.” If you don’t have family or staff who want to take a leadership role, then you need to look at external buyers, Maxwell notes. “That might mean people within the industry, or larger entities that are looking to purchase the business. Think carefully about what’s best for your staff and clients. Not all clients are interested in dealing with larger entities.” Start Early One of the biggest mistakes Guthrie sees people make is not starting the John Guthrie is a business adviser at MNP in Brandon, Man. and specializes in the area of succession planning. succession planning process early enough. “The reason people procrastinate is because succession planning is hard, and no two plans are alike. It requires the use of tools to come up with a plan that works for the family who is involved with selling the busi- ness and the family acquiring the business,” he says. Such tools are becoming more common, Guthrie notes, and offer owner-managers and large organiza- tions the means to successfully exit their business on their own terms through careful planning. “If you didn’t start to plan until