Most of us in firms with less than 5 or 6 partners realize our clients are partner loyal, not brand loyal. We are also confronted with the reality that we see our clients in person less and less each year as they mail in work, are on the cloud (or will be), staff pick up the work… thus when someone says they are 5 years from slowing down, it seems like an eternity, but the hard truth is that may be only 5 in-person visits for the majority of your clients.
Since we know these clients are loyal to you personally, we need to recognize it will take time to smoothly transition these relationships to your successor. This includes not only sole practitioners but also multi partner firms who have some or even all their partners seeking to slow down in the next 5 years or less.
While most recognize this issue, very few do anything about it. The main reason we have learned is they don’t want the accountability of merging with a larger firm, becoming their clock punching employee while awaiting their buyout…
We have developed a proprietary transition plan that enables these practitioners to retain reasonable control over their clients, their time, maintain their income and autonomy all while effecting a powerful transition plan. We call this deal structure a Two Stage Deal. Thus if you are looking to grow by acquiring these types of firms or you or some of your partners are considering slowing down over the next 5 years or less (you may want to work 15 more years, but if you only want to work 5 or less full time, this means you!), this is for you.
We encourage you to click on the two links below. The first link brings you to an article from the Journal of Accountancy that provides you much greater detail on the mechanics of this unique succession plan. The second link brings you to an actual case study where you a walk through such a deal and see how it actually worked.
The article link: http://www.transitionadvisors.com/articles/two_stage_deals.pdf
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