Unlock transferable value, retain talented people, and achieve your transaction goals.
Unlocking transferable business value should not be one of
the great mysteries of the world. Retaining talented people
should not rely on theories of what people want. And you
definitely don’t want to only have hope when it comes to
achieving your transaction goals.
Whether you need an incentive plan right now to retain and reward your key talent, or you are considering selling your ownership in a few years, The McFarland Group is here to guide you to successfully and confidently navigate your company’s journey.
Start your journey.
Why choose The McFarland
Group as your guide?
We understand the risks business owners face and the obstacles that can derail your plans. Our team’s experience has safely guided business owners just like you to achieve their goals.
Our clients own closely-held, small-to-mid market businesses. They lead strong teams. And they utilize the equity based incentive compensation plans and ownership succession plans we create to turn their vision into reality.
We have guided over $500MM in business value through our journey processes.
Schedule a time to discuss your individual business needs.
Hundreds of business owners have relied on us to guide them through the incentive compensation planning and exit strategy consulting processes
Know your advisors are crafting your vision without having to learn their jargon
Be prepared to make confident decisions
Build a great team that is motivated to achieve your goals
Simplify the complexity of leading and growing a business
Make decisions that set your team up for success
Our focus is on understanding your vision and preparing you to create the best possible outcomes
Our experience allows us to identify any risks and opportunities that might affect your plans
Our goal is to create meaningful and significant rewards for your talented people
We make it possible for you to focus on the most important information in your plan design
We are single-mindedly dedicated to making sure you reach your goals
How stakeholders of a large contractor firm achieved their exit goals while maintaining growth and retaining talent.
General Contractor, Inc., a large contracting firm in the Midwest with two owners in their mid-50s, desired to sell stock to key employees without damaging the company’s bonding capacity. One owner wanted to remain active after the sale.
Together with the company’s advisors, The McFarland Group led stakeholders through their succession planning journey. Ensured the exiting partner received cash at closing, and the exiting owner was released from the guaranty on the bond. The deal guaranteed that all owners would have the benefits they needed to enjoy their post-sale lifestyles. The new owner received a plan allowing him to purchase the exiting partner’s stock for cash in just six years. General Contractor, Inc. continues to grow and attract talented people to the team.
What we did
Conducted extensive stakeholder interviews.
Quantified how much money current owners needed to maintain their lifestyle for life.
Helped new owner secure a route to 50% ownership.
Created a non-qualified deferred compensation plan to offset the costs of benefits for the owners and their spouses before Medicare eligibility.
The company maintained the company’s bonding capacity while continuing to grow revenue, recruit employees, and distribute earnings.
Develop your comprehensive route so you can act with clarity and confidence.
How to sell your business to key employees
If you are like most business owners we work with, you don’t know with certainty how or when you will sell your business, who will buy your business, or what your business is worth. The McFarland Group provides succession and incentive compensation planning services that increase business value, motivate key employees, and get cash to you for the value of your ownership.
How to recruit and retain key employees
Incentive planning for key employees is just as important in recruiting talented people as it is in retaining them. Talented people are in high demand and receive competitive compensation packages to recruit them away from successful companies. However, rewarding employees with undefined annual bonuses or providing far-distant benefits in qualified retirement plans does not generate much buy-in. You earn buy-in from talented people by rewarding their talent directly. Retaining key employees ties those rewards to payment triggers that align with your planning goals. The McFarland group helps you design incentive plans that directly reward an employee’s performance and retains these talented people using payout methods that are tangible and meaningful.
How to grow your business value
A business’s value is the basis for measuring progress in any incentive or transaction journey. Whether you are creating incentive plans for your key employees, preparing to transition ownership in a sale, or protecting you and other owners from unexpected events, a business valuation sets the baseline from which all comprehensive planning develops. Without a business valuation, you cannot measure the contributions of your employees’ efforts to company value, you cannot quantify and protect your company’s assets or your ownership value in a contingency event, and you cannot confidently price your business for a sale. Successful incentive plans create buy-in with employees by rewarding them for their contributions to growing value. Successful continuity planning monitors risk and mitigates it with consistently adjusted strategies. Successful transactions begin well in advance of the transfer to receive fair market value for ownership.
How do you get where you want to go?
Map the route to achieve your vision.
Identify the obstacles that stand in your way.
Determine how to navigate them to reach your goals.
Reward talented people for buying-in to your vision.
Make sure your team understands your goals.
Let them buy-in to your vision and help you achieve it.
Navigate your journey with confidence.
Set out with a clear objective of where you are leading your company.
Be confident that, with the right guide, you are all going to get there.
Book a free consultation with a succession planning consultant.
Why do you need a guide?
You lead a thriving business. You meet or exceed your goals time and time again. You built up a great team that works well together and embodies your company’s mission. You surround yourself with talented advisors who look out for your best interests. Besides, you don’t plan on selling control for at least five more years. What do you need a guide for?
We’d like you to contemplate your answers to a few of these questions:
- Do you know with certainty what your company is worth?
- How much do you rely on your company to support and maintain your lifestyle? What happens when cash stops flowing in through your salary or distributions?
- What do your company’s agreements obligate you to? How much have you personally guaranteed?
- How much time do you spend in day-to-day business activities every week? 20 hours? 40?
- What happens to your family if you have a debilitating or fatal accident? What about your company?
- Which of your key employees is talking to your competitors about better pay, benefits, or opportunities? Who is getting ready to leave your company and start their own?
If you answered any of these questions with, “I don’t know,” or they created a tightness in your gut, then you might enjoy the benefits of a guide. Our succession planning consultants can help.
Schedule a time to discuss your individual business needs.
Why The McFarland Group is the right guide
Why do you need a guide?
You lead a thriving business. You meet or exceed your goals time and time again. You built up a great team that works well together and embodies your company’s mission. You surround yourself with talented advisors who look out for your best interests. Besides, you don’t plan on selling control for at least five more years. What do you need a guide for?
You may be hearing conflicting advice from your various advisors. How many of them understand your business and your vision as a whole? Who brings it all together to achieve your goals? We start with you and what you want. Then we bring your advisors together and hold them accountable so you don’t have to. In the end, you know what you have and how it works. Without having to learn all the lingo and jargon along the way.
It’s not likely you know who wants to be part of your company’s future and how they see themselves in it. You built a great team and you want them to be motivated to stay. We get to know your star players, what they want, and how they see themselves in your vision. Then, we create a space for them to thrive, reward them for contributing to your company’s success, and make sure they are motivated to stay.
You may feel like you have plenty of time to figure out how to grow your company and prepare to sell it for fair value. Maybe you do. The good news is, if you start right now, you have plenty of time to make the right decisions and are exponentially more likely to reach your goals. Best of all, you have even more time to enjoy the benefits of your success.
Keep your promises.
Leave your company in good hands.
Get paid fair value and enjoy the rewards of your success.
Start your journey.
Send us a message and our succession planning consultants will be in touch as soon as possible. You can also click the link below to schedule a consultation that works with your schedule.