We are excited to announce the grand opening of our Family Business On Demand Resource Center.  The Center is a one-stop shop for enterprising families and their advisors facing the financial challenges that are common to family business.  We’ve curated and organized a diverse collection of resources from our staff of family business professionals, including a 5 minute video series, articles, whitepapers, books, and research studies.  There’s nothing else like it, and we look forward to your visit.

The perspectives we offer at the Center are rooted in our experiences at Mercer Capital working with hundreds of enterprising families in thousands of engagements over the past forty years.  Our focus is on the financial challenges faced by family businesses, which include:

• Capital budgeting. Managers and directors of family businesses are stewards of family capital.  Capital budgeting is the disciplined process of allocating that capital to productive uses within the family business.
• Capital structure. Investment capital for family business comes in two forms: equity from shareholders, and debt from lenders.  Capital structure is the relative proportion of debt and equity used by a family business and is one of the most consequential decisions directors are called upon to make.
• Dividend & redemption policy. Family shareholders may or may not read reports about the performance of the family business, but they always cash dividend checks.  A coherent dividend and redemption policy establishes a framework for corporate managers and family shareholders to develop appropriate expectations regarding future dividends and opportunities for share redemptions.
• Mergers & acquisitions. Whether you are contemplating buying another business or selling all or a portion of your own, M&A transactions are significant events for enterprising families.  Buying or selling a business is definitely a “measure twice, cut once” activity for family businesses.
• Shareholder engagement & education. The long-term sustainability of any family business is determined, in part, by how family shareholders view the family business.  In our experience, educated family shareholders are engaged family shareholders.
• While doubtless a fact of life that cannot be avoided, managing the estate tax burden is one of several objectives considered by successful enterprising families when planning for ownership succession.
• The fact that most family businesses are not publicly traded does not mean that valuation is irrelevant for family businesses.  The value of the family business affects each of the preceding topics.

If you’ve ever had any questions about the topics listed above – or know someone that does – please visit our Family Business Director On Demand Resource Center.  Check out some of the content, meet our professionals, and give us a call.  We look forward to helping you!