Closely-held family-owned businesses make up a significant part of the GDP of the United States, with many family-owned or controlled businesses being represented prominently in the Fortune 500. Nevertheless, the odds are heavily stacked against a family-owned/closely-held business being continued past the first generation, and the odds worsen in the succeeding generations. Why? This 90-minute webinar will explore this question in-depth, and, in particular, will address a wide range of issues that bear upon this question, including the following issues and planning concepts that can help owners struggling with the question of exit:

* Exit planning reinvented
* Financial planning for business owners
* Advanced estate, tax and charitable planning
* Introduction to Value Enhancement
* Exit planning deliverables
* Creating and delivering action plans
* The importance of teams
* Exit option analysis
* Understanding private equity
* Third party sales and the M&A process
* ESOP as an exit strategy
* Strengths and weaknesses of family businesses
* The all-important keep or sell discussion
* Aligning the family values with the values of the family-owned business
* Critical points in time for frank, honest and open family conversations
* Identifying, grooming and selecting leadership succession candidates for the family business
* The importance and use of outside advisors and directors for the family business
* The all-important leadership transition process
* The employment rules of the road-do all family members have a right to work for the business? What about the efficacy or desirability of requiring a minimum period of work experience outside of the family business?
* The tension and importance of non-family member key employees
* Tax-related and non-tax-related obstacles in the path of a family business
* The balancing act-keeping the peace between family members who work for the family business and family members who don’t