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Blog

Life Stages of a Business

Erik Nelson, Wealth Management Associate | Carolyn Taylor, Founding Partner, President | June 15, 2017

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Business owners live two often intertwined lives, their own and their business’s. We view the process of creating, growing, establishing and ultimately exiting a business similar to the different stages of a human’s life. Just as a person’s interests, motives and actions differ as they progress from infancy to the later stages of life, the considerations that businesses face vary from start-up to maturity. As in life, business owners need to nourish and develop their craft while utilizing internal and external experts, leveraging technology, focusing on innovation and leading their team into the future. The chart below summarizes some of our thoughts on the considerations faced as a business progresses through the stages of the life cycles.

Click here to enlarge and interact with the Stages of Business chart.

Most business owners are focused on the day-to-day growth of their business. Often an owner may find it difficult to judge where their business falls in the life cycle and fail to create the bandwidth to prioritize next steps. Through thoughtful discussion and by leveraging Weatherly’s connections and experience, potential value can be added as your business enters the growth stage, becomes an established business or approaches the mature stage. A team of experts including retirement specialists, business attorneys, CPAs and wealth advisors can help to lead, design and implement the appropriate next steps. Considerations of retirement plans, key man insurance and developing a next-gen roadmap are all integral parts of our discussion on how to best convert your hard work into a saleable asset and plan for a more secure outcome.

As one of our favorite niche clients, Weatherly works with small business owners at all stages of the life cycle. Creativity and formation begins the development process but the opportunity to protect business structure, reduce taxes and develop a plan for the highly compensated also becomes central as a company matures. If you or a friend owns a business and wants to review our capabilities, Weatherly would be happy to schedule a consultation and we welcome the opportunity to lend a helping hand as your business progresses through its own life cycle.

** The information provided should not be interpreted as a recommendation, no aspects of your individual financial situation were considered. Always consult a financial professional before implementing any strategies derived from the information above.