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The most wonderful time of year — to get to work

Now is a great time to reflect upon your life and professional ambitions, and to think about the quality of your business relationships. As you begin to contemplate your goals for 2017, think about how you will add greater value to your relationships and how you will differentiate your practice.

Focus on understanding your client’s business issues first, and the appropriate benefits solutions will logically follow. Consider developing benefits strategic plans for each client. Evolve your interaction to become much more consultative. Seek to instill this approach in your firm’s corporate culture. And by all means, focus your energies on becoming a trusted adviser.

Also see:30 benefit thought-leaders to know.”

christmas-lights
Light trails left by passing vehicles run past trees decorated with illuminated Christmas lights in this long exposure photograph taken at night in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, December 5, 2015. Confidence in Japan's economy among large manufacturers unexpectedly held up in the past few months, suggesting that record corporate profits are compensating for uncertainty about the effects of an expected U.S. rate increase and slowdown in China. Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg

As we approach the end of this momentous year, it seemed appropriate to reflect upon the following:

  • What is the condition of your business today?
  • What role do you want to play in your business, if at all, during 2017-2020?
  • What is it that you personally want to achieve over the next three to four years?
  • What are your financial goals?
  • How can you optimize the value of your business asset?
  • Will you be managing your business at the end of this decade, or is it time to begin thinking about your personal exit strategy?

Try to be honest with yourself as you answer these questions. And for many, a logical place to start is with a review of your business plan. A good number of you are thinking to yourself: I don’t have one. You just haven’t had the time to get around to it, even though you have been in business all this time. After all, it’s only been how many years?

A roadmap for your business
The rationale for developing a written business plan for your practice should be obvious. We have written numerous times in this column over the last decade that a written business plan provides a roadmap for your business and can guide your day-to-day tactical and operational decisions. The discipline of writing a plan forces you to put a stake in the ground and make some definitive decisions about the future direction for your practice and how it will compete in the marketplace. You wouldn’t drive cross-country without a roadmap or GPS, would you? Then why manage your practice driving in the dark?

For those of you who will remain in the game, having a written business plan — including a contingency plan for managing change — will be critical to your success going forward. You need to be thinking broadly and strategically about how your business will not only survive, but thrive, since the marketplace is full of opportunity for those that are prepared. Remember: luck is the intersection point of preparation and opportunity. So sit down with key members of your team, and get started.

The important thing is to commit to the process and devote the time that is required. This time of year is perfect for this type of business initiative.

On the other hand, some of you are well beyond this point in life, and you are just trying to figure out what to do next with your business to protect your asset, and to do what is right for your clients and employees. Frequently, we are asked about the easiest and most effective ways that business owners can optimize the value of their businesses. We realize that you may not be ready to sell your agency, brokerage, consultancy, or TPA business today. But perhaps, you and your partners are at a point where you are having discussions about when might be the appropriate time to exit the business. Well, the time to prepare for that day is now.

Exit strategy?
Why consider selling or merging your business? There are many reasons to consider a sale or merger with another complementary or synergistic business. Among the reasons are:

  • Strengthen the management team
  • Broaden the product set
  • Achieve operational efficiencies
  • Qualify for more lucrative carrier contracts
  • Open new markets
  • Perpetuation of one or both businesses
  • Acquire new skills and expertise
  • Increase top-line revenue potential
  • Improve profitability
  • Enhance technology capabilities
  • Add sales channels
  • Providing an exit strategy for the owners

For example, if your business currently offers employer-paid benefits and you see that your firm is passing up a huge opportunity by not offering voluntary benefits, perhaps merging with a firm that specializes in these product lines would make sense.
Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to considering potential merger candidates. Today’s competitor or vendor partner may be tomorrow’s ideal merger candidate. Think strategically about what will benefit your clients and customers most in the future. So the evaluation of potential merger candidates is largely about finding business partners that have complementary or synergistic business practices, wherein both businesses benefit from not having to build a new practice with all the attendant time and expense associated with the creation of a new business entity. In an ideal world, the end result will be 1 + 1 = 3 or 5.

Perhaps you have been partnering with a local firm or you have done joint case work with friendly competitor. Having a solid working knowledge of the interested party is essential. Hopefully your management styles, personal goals, business ethics and a whole host of personal attributes are compatible. Is the chemistry good between the principals?

Also see:5 unanticipated outcomes of agency acquisitions.”

It’s hard to achieve greater success when you don’t care for the person you will be working with most of your waking hours. It is absolutely essential to make certain that the interests of the parties are aligned. What is the vision for the merged business? Who will lead? Who will follow? And who will simply leave? And it’s important to get all the strategic and tactical issues out on the table and fully discussed. A professional business advisor versed in consulting and mergers can facilitate these discussions. There needs to be consensus on what will be your roadmap for success. After all, any road will take you there if you don’t know where you are going.

So as you can see, balancing the emotional and psychic needs of the principals with the managerial and leadership needs of the potential merger businesses requires an artful solution. Clearly this is not a science. But keeping all parties focused on the strategic and financial benefits to be gained from a merger can make all the difference in the world. And remember, this is a process. One that perhaps you and your colleagues are not all that familiar with, but it’s still a process.

You don’t sell your home that often either, but you can recognize that there are steps in the process that must occur in some logical order. So think strategically, plan tactically and merge for financial success.

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season filled with quality family time and happy celebratory memories with your friends and colleagues. It’s been a challenging year, and we are looking forward to a terrific 2017. Happy holidays and best wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year.

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