The NCEO Fall Forum

7 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 11 THE NCEO FALL FORUM or spent a lot of your life creating? Is that next chapter one you will feel good about, something you’re proud to tell your grandkids? If you set up a plan for your employees to become owners, then you can feel good knowing you not only have people responsible for your business who care about it and are actively preserving its character & values. But you can also feel confident that those responsible are those same people that helped you build it and are sharing in the benefit of all that you’ve built.” However, the path to adopting an ESOP has its challenges. Careful consideration is essential, and owners must embark on a journey of due diligence. As Steve Baker, Vice-President of the Great Game of Business, aptly puts it, there’s more than one kind of due diligence involved. It’s not just about the financial and fiduciary responsibilities or selecting the right service providers. Business owners typically desire at least a fair market value for the sale of their business, and post- transaction, the company management team needs to understand how to sustain and grow that value.” A company’s long-term stability and subsequent scaling under this model requires its employees to transition into a business owner mindset in order for the next generation of management to lead the business forward. So, in that regard, education and mentorship are pivotal in this process. Support and Solutions to ESOP Challenges The good news is that business owners considering a transition of ownership to a trust benefiting their employees (“ESOP”) aren’t in it alone. There are plenty of companies that specialize in aiding business owners in transitioning their business ownership over to an ESOP. These companies help with company valuation, ESOP & DOL compliance, and much more. Among these entities stands Prairie Capital Advisors. As an ESOP, Prairie specializes in business ownership transition, and Michael McGinley, Managing Director at Prairie, shares a crucial point that all business owners should consider.