The Break-Up: Have You Outgrown Your Advisers?
One Google search and you proved him wrong again. That’s the second time in the past month this has happened. You wish it weren’t true. It would be so much easier if he were right, but your tax adviser is failing you. Your controller has been bugging you about him for years and you’ve ignored her valid concerns. She’s increasingly uncomfortable with the situation and if the status quo continues, you know she might quit. You’re convinced now that a big mistake is inevitable at some point and who knows how much that might cost you?
You see, you started your business in your garage with nothing but an idea. With no funds in the bank account, you relied on favors to get things done. In this case, you hired your buddy who works with typical families for your taxes. Fast forward to the present and you are not a typical family, but your same friend is still your tax guy. And you’re his biggest client, by far!
If you’re honest with yourself, it’s not just your tax advice that hasn’t evolved with your needs. Most of your advisers are the original gang despite the changed scope, scale, and complexity of your personal and business needs. Whenever your controller and others have expressed concerns in the past, you have played the loyalty card and said, “These are the advisers who got me here.” While this is somewhat true, you know they may not be the right group to take you where you are headed.
Here are two thoughts to consider:
Adding to your advisory team does not necessarily mean subtracting, and
Good advisers know when to bring other advisers to the table.
Adding Doesn’t Mean Subtracting
Since we already picked on your tax adviser, let’s shift gears to your corporate attorney. They helped you draft your Articles of Organization and continue to review contracts and handle small commercial litigation cases. They know you and your business, and they provide you with good service in these areas, but they are not an M&A (mergers & acquisitions) specialist.
When you are planning your exit, you should consider involving an M&A attorney on your advisory team. These specialists understand the legal idiosyncrasies of getting deals done, and the good ones can help you prepare for the sale process avoiding headaches down the road.
If you decide to add an M&A attorney to your advisory team, this doesn’t mean you need to send your corporate attorney packing. But if your long-time attorney resists such an addition to your exit planning team, you should consider this a red flag.
Recommended Read: The Essential EBITDA Tutorial - What is “EBITDA” anyway?
Good Advisers Know When to Bring in Other Advisers
If your corporate attorney thinks they can handle everything, this portrays both a lack of awareness and a failure to put your needs first. Perhaps you’re such a substantial client that they’ll do anything to control the relationship and keep another attorney or firm out. If your advisers are trying to hold you hostage, they probably don’t belong on your advisory team at all.
Good advisers know their limits and encourage collaboration with others, even within the same broad field, such as law or tax.
Do you have concerns about your advisory team? Are you looking to build an advisory team? At Doescher Group, we help owners exit on their terms. As part of our process, we can make introductions to appropriate advisers for the task at hand when the right expertise is not already available. If you’d like to learn more, please reach out!
