Too many Utah business owners discover too late that their kids either can't afford the business or never wanted it. Independent valuations prevent sibling warfare, while separating real estate from operations often makes transfers actually affordable.Learn more at https://www.estates-utah.com/.
You spent decades building your business from nothing, and now retirement is actually within reach. But here's the problem nobody wants to talk about: what happens to everything you built after you're gone? Most Utah business owners pour their entire lives into their companies, then avoid planning their exit until a health scare forces impossible decisions on families who aren't ready. The succession planning experts at Curry Andrews Consulting have seen this pattern destroy both businesses and families, and it doesn't have to be this way. The biggest mistake? Waiting too long to start the conversation. Your kids need years to develop real leadership skills, not a crash course after you've already stepped away. When children inherit a business without proper training and the proper business skills, they make expensive mistakes in operations or with cash flow and accounting that can sink a profitable company within months. But the training and business experience is only part of the equation. You also need to figure out if your children actually want to run the business or if they just feel obligated because it's been the family company for so long. This is where things get uncomfortable. Talking about succession, forces everyone to face the reality that you won't be around forever, which is exactly why so many families avoid it completely. But having that conversation early reveals the truth. Does your daughter really want to manage daily operations, or does she just want an ownership stake that pays dividends while she pursues her real passion? Does your son genuinely care about the business, or is he secretly dreaming about a completely different career? You need to know these answers years before retirement, not during a crisis when there's no time to change course. Let's say your kids do want the business. Great. Now you face another challenge: most business owners keep their wealth tied up in the company instead of retirement accounts. That means you need the sale or transfer to fund twenty or thirty years of your retirement, but your children probably can't afford to pay market value all at once. This is where planning becomes critical. You need years to structure financing solutions that your children can actually handle without destroying their financial future or yours. Getting an independent business valuation matters more than most owners realize. When emotions drive pricing decisions, siblings who aren't involved in the purchase feel cheated. Family dinners turn into arguments about fairness and who got the better deal. An independent valuation removes the emotion and gives everyone concrete numbers they can't dispute. It protects relationships while ensuring you get enough money to actually retire comfortably. Here's one strategy that might help both sides: separate your real estate from business operations. Create a company that owns the buildings and equipment, then have your children buy just the operating business at a much lower price. You keep collecting lease payments for the real estate, which protects your retirement income, while they get ownership at a price they can afford. It's one of those solutions that seems obvious once you hear it, but most families never consider it because they're trying to figure everything out on their own. Now let's talk about the actual transfer methods, because you have options. You can sell the business outright to your children if they have savings or can get bank financing. This generates the retirement income you'll need, but it only works if the business stays profitable enough to cover their loan payments. If you're financing the sale yourself, you need to charge interest rates that meet IRS requirements, and you need to make sure those payments don't put your retirement at risk. Some families gift company shares to avoid certain tax problems. You can give substantial amounts each year without triggering gift taxes, which sounds great until you realize gifting means you're not receiving retirement income. For most owners who need cash flow to pay bills after leaving daily operations, pure gifting just isn't realistic. That's why some families combine gifting with other methods to balance tax benefits against actual income needs. Trusts offer another option. Using trusts for ownership transfers lets you keep control while you're alive and specifies exactly how the business passes down after you're gone. The downside? Trusts need careful legal work, especially if your company operates as an S Corp. There are special rules and requirements that add complexity and upfront costs, but the protection and flexibility can be worth it for the right situation. Here's the conversation nobody wants to have: what if you have multiple children and only one of them should actually lead the company? Choosing one child to run things feels impossible after spending years treating everyone equally in family life. But equal treatment and fair treatment are completely different in business succession. Leadership requires specific abilities that not all children possess, regardless of how much you love them. Some families give ownership to all children while putting just one in charge of management decisions. Other families reserve ownership only for children who actually work in the business every day. And sometimes you realize none of your children can run the company competently, which means hiring outside managers or selling to someone else makes more sense than watching inexperienced leadership destroy what you built. The bottom line? You need a well-advised formal written plan covering who takes over, when the transition happens, how ownership transfers, and what role you keep after stepping back. Click on the link in the description to connect with succession planning professionals who can help you structure a transition that protects both your retirement and your family relationships.
Curry Andrews Consulting
City: South Jordan
Address: 10808 South River Front Parkway
Website: https://www.estates-utah.com/
Phone: +1-801-960-3830