Business Succession Planning in Canada
Plan for the future of your small business - learn what you need to know about Business Succession Planning in Canada with this 8-page expert guide.
The guide describes the different types of business structures under Canadian laws, the pros and cons of each type of corporate entity. In addition, it discusses:
- how to extract value from your business,
- corporate investing,
- exit strategies,
- family businesses,
- tax planning and estate freezes.
Business Succession Planning in Canada is intended for Canadian businesses and is provided in PDF format.
Management Buyouts - Selling Out to Senior Management
This guide for small business owner managers explains how you can include senior employees in your business succession plan.
Why You Should Include Employees in Succession Planning
There are a number of good reasons to include your long-time employees in your business continuity planning:
- It is a way to give deserving employees an opportunity to acquire the business.
- This is a viable alternative if your family members have no interest in taking over the business.
- Senior employees often represent the best possible buyers for the business, as they are already actively involved in its operation.
Contents of the Guide
This guide sets out the pros and cons of this exit strategy, the issues you need to consider, and how to structure the deal in the best interests of all parties.
Author Credit
This expert guide was written by Phil Thompson, business lawyer and corporate counsel in Ontario, Canada.
Ownership Succession Plan for Family Business
Make sure that your small business continues on after you retire with this sample Ownership Succession Plan for Family Business.
- This sample Succession Plan is designed to assist the owners of a family operation or other small business in planning for the future of the business following the retirement, disability or death of the principal owner(s), through:
- training other members of the family or company team in management roles,
- granting stock options as incentives,
- setting up a board of advisers with expertise in financial, legal and other areas,
- developing business plans and initiatives to grow the business and protect the owners' interests.
- If you run a family business and you haven't put together a succession plan yet, don't put it off any longer. Download and complete this template.
Sole Proprietorship Buy-Sell Agreement
Succession planning is vital to the survival of small businesses. This Sole Proprietorship Buy-Sell Agreement can help ensure the continuity of yours.
What is succession planning?
Succession planning is a strategy to determine what will happen to your business when you retire, die, or become incapacitated. A succession plan sets out who will take over operating and managing the business, and how and when that transfer will take place.
Scope of the Buy-Sell Agreement
This is a simple form of buy-sell agreement between the owner of a sole proprietorship and an employee who wants to purchase the business when the owner dies. Both parties want the business to continue to exist.
Key Points of the Agreement
- On the death of the proprietor, the executor or administrator of the estate will formalize the sale of the business to the employee.
- The employee will finance the purchase through proceeds of a life insurance policy on the life of the proprietor.
- The purchase transaction will include all real property, accounts receivable and other assets owned by the business.
- The parties will jointly determine the value of the business at the end of each fiscal year.
Format and Jurisdiction
This is a downloadable MS Word template from MegaDox.com. It is fully editable and can be customized to fit your specific requirements.
The form is generic legal contract and does not contain specific references to the laws of any country. It can be used in most common law jurisdictions.
Top 10 Tips to a Winning Exit Strategy
Learn the Top 10 Tips to a Winning Exit Strategy with this 8-page article written by an expert business lawyer.
- The aim of the article is to help small business owner-managers prepare a succession plan to ensure that their businesses continue to thrive after their departure.
- These top 10 tips can help you put together a successful exit strategy that not only addresses your personal needs, but is also in the best interests of the business.
- The author is an Ontario lawyer whose main focus is small businesses.
- Available as a PDF download.
