Selling Your Insurance Agency: The Right Way to Retire
A common problem for family-owned businesses is so well-known that it’s become a trope in literature, film, and television alike: only one-third will transition to the next generation. When owners pin their exit or inheritance plan on family succession, the resulting chaos can destroy the company’s valuation and cause family and shareholder drama.
Let’s discuss the best ways to avoid successor and shareholder drama. By selling your agency, you can ensure that your family inherits the full value of your business. Simultaneously, your agency can continue to thrive in the care of a motivated new owner who has heavily invested their own cash into the enterprise.
Your Children May Not Want to Follow in Your Footsteps
When you are ready to retire, it’s very possible that your children won’t want to abandon their own life pursuits. They may decide to sell your business and divide the profits.
However, it’s not that simple. If only one of your children wants to continue the family business, they will have to buy out their sibling(s). If they don’t have the means to do so, your other children may agree to a reduced valuation, selling the business for less than it’s worth.
It’s also possible that they won’t be able to purchase the business at all.
Their Inexperience May Tank Your Agency
In the unlikely event that your children want to keep the business in the family and decide to step into your role, will they have the skills required to carry the agency once you’ve left?
Many people believe they are ready to run a business but quickly realize that the various responsibilities of day-to-day operations are beyond their abilities. And what of the relationships you’ve built with your staff, board members, and insurance providers? These relationships can’t be passed down; instead, your inheritor will have to work hard to reforge these connections.
In the meantime, your agency will be less profitable, less productive, and may lose ground within the community.
Multiple Owners, Multiple Groups of Heirs?
Do you own your agency independently, or do you share ownership with another person? An agency with multiple owners will experience complications in succession, even when it’s carefully planned.
Either one owner must be bought out to make way for a single successor, or multiple successors will have to find out how well they work in partnership. Remember, a successful partnership between owners does not in any way guarantee the same between their heirs.
Give Your Heirs The Gift of Maximized Profit
You want to retire, and you deserve to do so. To maximize profits for your retirement and your children’s inheritance, you’ll obtain the best arrangement possible through Springtree Group’s M&A capabilities.
Our skilled team of experts will use our network to present your agency to qualified buyers eager to purchase a successful, time-tested agency like yours. Many owners have not been alerted to the benefits of working with an M&A brokerage and miss out on significant profits by selling on their own instead.
By aligning yourself with Springtree Group, you’re guaranteed access to our extensive network, our experience, and our time spent arranging a deal that brings you the most profit.
Our discussions will be fully confidential. Contact us today to begin the process of your successful exit from the private insurance sphere. You’ve earned it.
