As a business owner in Michigan, a top priority for your estate plan should be figuring out how to transfer business ownership. After all, you still want your business to continue growing and flourishing even after your death.
There are many ways in which you can transfer your business. You must look through each, weight the pros and cons and decide from there which option will suit your needs the best.
Selling your business
Fit Small Business examines different ways in which you can pass down your business. There are many options that involve selling your business, or your share of it. You can choose to sell to a key employee, a business partner or an outside business. You can also choose to sell your share back to the business itself.
These options all come with benefits and drawbacks. For example, a key employee or business partner knows the ins and outs of your business already. If they have been with you for some time, they know the company’s goal and likely agree with its views and principles. But a buy-sell agreement is often hard for employees to manage.
Selling to an outside company or back to the business eliminates the financial uncertainty of selling to an employee or employer. But you have little control over who will take the reigns. This person might not have the same values as you and your company may change as a result.
Passing your business to an heir
Inheritance is another possibility. You may have heirs in the family, which takes away many complexities of dealing with non-family members. But disputes between heirs can often get brutal. In some cases, no one wants to take over the family business, which gives you a whole different set of problems.
What works for you in the end will depend on what you want in specific. You must do careful research before making your final decision.