On Friday, September 19, my friend and colleague, Edward Renn and I met up on an early morning train (he was coming from New Haven, I was coming from New York City). We were headed to Washington, D.C. to Inc. Magazine's "Inc. 5000" conference.

Ed, a notable private client lawyer from the firm Withers Bergman, and I were on our way to meet with some Inc. 5000 business owners to talk about "exit strategies." Specifically, about the exit strategies of the owners themselves, although by necessity, you must also talk about their company's transition.

We discussed how current politics could affect timing of an owner's exit strategy. We reviewed the current proposals of the two presidential candidates to see the myriad ways they are approaching the economy. And, as Friday was yet another of the craziest days in the history of the stock market, we acknowledged that everything is changing in real time and it's extremely difficult to pin down essential issues such as tax policy and the like, except to say that, it's looking extremely likely that taxes will have to go up to pay for so many government programs.

Ed walked the collected audience of business owners through a few strategies that they could implement now that would preserve the value of their holdings in their private businesses right now. These strategies, all driven by a combination of tax planning and legal planning, focus on four areas every business owner should be aware of:

* Productive portfolio planning (how to turn your investments in your business into an investment that can run without your involvement). 

* Wealth Transfer (how to pass your wealth to trusts, the next generation or anyone else)

* Asset protection (how to protect yourself and your family as your wealth becomes liquid)

*  Philanthropic and lifestyle planning

Ed briefly introduced a few specific ideas that he encourated accomplished entrepreneurs to look into. There were a considerable number of questions and discussion that followed his presentation

I am posting up some of the materials we reviewed although they are very brief--it will give you an idea of what was discussed. 

Finally, we introduced the idea of an "IncBizNet Business Owner Meet Up," which I'll describe in my next post but basically, we're inviting business owners to form an informal gathering group in select regions. For more information, send me a message here at IncBizNet.