Three Gaps a Business Owner Must Define in Planning an Exit, with Estate Planning Attorney Neeli Shah
Neeli Shah: [00:00:00] What I find when I work with business owners is lack of clarity. So, what I encourage whenever I work with business owners at the onset is for them to know their gaps. And there’s three gaps that I specifically focus on. So, there is the wealth gap. There’s the value gap. And then, there’s the profit gap.
Neeli Shah: [00:00:21] The wealth gap is, you know, kind of it’s your number. What’s your number? What do you want? What’s your net worth going to be when you retire? And where are you right now? That difference is the wealth gap. The value gap specifically deals with the business. So, the business itself, do you know what the value of your business is currently? And what I find is, oftentimes, business owners don’t exactly know the true value of their business. They maybe have an idea of what it’s worth, but may not know the exact value. And where you want that value to be to get to your wealth gap. So, it kind of all relates back to it and that’s your value gap.
Neeli Shah: [00:01:02] And then, the same thing with profitability and profit gap. You know, where does your profitability need to be for you to get to that value, to ultimately then get to your wealth gap? So, they kind of all relate and they’re connected to each other. But those three numbers gives you clarity and sense of direction in where you are and where you need to be from a business perspective as well as a personal financial perspective.
Neeli Shah: [00:01:28] And then, the third leg of that stool is the the final act. I always focus on this as well, you know, like what do you envision doing after this transfer? You know, if you’re thinking about exiting, what does that next step look like? So, I think I start with clarity. And then, you know, the other very important piece is a team. Do you have a team? You know, typically you need a financial adviser, a CPA, a business attorney as a planning attorney, and a business consultant kind of all on the same bus, driving in the same direction. And that’s not usually the case. That’s kind of the second goal.
Neeli Shah, The Law Offices of Neeli Shah
The Law Offices of Neeli Shah is a boutique will, trusts, and estates law practice that provides comprehensive legal advice to individuals, small businesses, and nonprofits.
At the Law Offices of Neeli Shah, they believe that planning for the future should be purposeful and practical. They work with and/or help to develop a collaborative team of advisers committed to navigating the planned and unplanned transitions of life.
They strive to empower and enrich the financial lives of those they serve as a source of education, information, and solutions by integrating personal family dynamics and relationships with the financial and tax planning processes.
Listen to the complete ProfitSense interview here.
The “One Minute Interview” series is produced by John Ray and in the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link.
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
