Plan for success
28 May 2018
Do you know what’s going to happen to the family property and business when your parents want to retire? How will they fund their retirement? Do you know if you kids want to take on the business? It all comes back to communication and planning, and it’s a situation every family business faces. So, how do you work through this process to find the best outcome for all parties?
The MLA Donor Company and Meridian Agriculture joined forces with a project on this subject. The project, Farm Success Enabling Case Studies, has provided 16 producer case studies on ‘how to build your business’ to prepare for farm succession. It looked at human, financial, political and environmental risks and examined the decisions and strategies that directed the growth which enabled succession, or that rendered businesses unviable.
While the case studies do not research and document how to prepare a succession plan as there are many resources available already to help with this, they do capture the importance of being in a financial position to be able to undertake succession. Eight case studies feature businesses which have successfully remained in the family ownership for at least three generations and are set to carry through to the fourth. The remaining eight case studies feature businesses that have not survived, and outlines the reasons behind this.
Resources:
Two short webinars have been held to summarise the findings
Read a full report on the case studies and key learnings.
If you have any questions about the project or its findings, please contact Meridian Agriculture on 03 5341 6100.
