b'(continued from page 7) Things for Current Owners to Think About Additionally, owners may have to put off retirement for a year or two in order to make sure the successionOwners must also contemplate their own personal goes smoothly. But with something as important asgoals when planning a business exit. There is a lot to ownership transfer, rushing things through really isn\'tconsider during the continuity planning process. an option. It pays to have a little patienceand a lot of planning. succession planning for constructionPersonal role. How do you plan to phase out of your companies.role as owner? Do you plan on sticking around as a consultant or board member, or are you headed straight Define Overall Objectives and Parametersfor the golf course or fishing boat? The first step in planning ownership transfer is identifying what you, the owner, want to get out of it.Organizational objectives. What do you want to see How much money would I like to make? How longthe next generation of ownership and management do do I want to stick around until the new ownerwith the business? completely takes over? What about the business do I want to remain the same after I leave? How long do you expect this entire transfer process to take? As pointed out earlier, it\'s common for "To some owners, it is very important that theconstruction business ownership transfers to take business maintain the same name," Clancy says.8-12 years. "Some owners want certain employees to be retained in certain roles. These are the types of things owners need to be thoughtful about as they begin thePersonal goals. Some owners say they don\'t want to continuity planning process."leave until a certain project or initiative is completed, for example. At the same time, an owner must talk with the future owner(s) about what their objectives are. "There hasKey employee retention. Owners must realize that to be some alignment here," Clancy cautions.they don\'t have to give every current employee a piece of ownership. But owners do have to find ways to encourage the most valuable employees to stick First of all, corporate objectives must be defined.around. This includes things like growth and profitability, as well as the potential obstacles to achieving those goals.Other considerations. "As you, the owner, are putting your list together of what is important to you, there are many other things to think through and have an answer Secondly, it\'s important to separate ownershipfor," Clancy says. For example: transfer from succession management. Again, these are two separate components of an overall construction business transfer. That said, the twoEstate and life insurance often intersect.Voting control and power Rick profile and indemnification For example, a long-tenured superintendent may also be part of a company\'s ownership group. However,Buy/sell agreements that superintendent is functioning as a "manager" 90Treatment of children, family and key employees percent of the time, and should be compensated and incentivized based on that managerial role. Another example is if you have two 50 percent owners, one ofThings for Future Owners to Think About whom oversees business development while the otherThe future owners of the company should be thinking oversees operations. Even though the two are equalabout many of the same things outlined above. partners, their salaries should be based on industryAdditionally, future owners need to think about the norms for those positions. Then the ownership piecelevel and duration of the previous owner\'s is handled separately.compensation.(continued to page 11)8'