Karen Kerrigan
Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council is a long-time friend of mine and a remarkable advocate for small business in this country.
It is not surprising that she convened a panel on November 4 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. SBE Council joined an influential group of small business leaders to discuss what the election results mean for America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. For anyone involve in economic policy, particularly affecting small businesses, I would encourage you to visit the website and watch the video of the panel discussion: http://sbecouncil.blogspot.com/2010/11/small-business-lame-duck-and-new.html?spref=tw.
The panel was fantastic: Harry Alford, President & CEO, National Black Chamber of Commerce; Allen Guitierrez, Executive Director, The Latino Coalition; John Palatiello, President, Business Coalition for Fair Competition; and Kelly Scanlon, Chair, National Association of Women Business Owners.
For anyone who knows Karen, it is not a coincidence that she brought together a broad-based panel representing the diverse range of small business owners in this country. What they have to say is also very revealing and worth the time to watch. As much as the national media have focused on the ups and downs of publicly held major corporations, let us not forget that there are 10 million small businesses in this country and they are the backbone of our economy. Even more importantly, because many of these businesses are owned by baby boomers, fully half of these business will be changing hands in the next 10-15 years in perhaps one of the greatest redistributions of wealth in the history of our country.
Will the transition be successful is still a significant question and if you are one of these business owners I would strongly encourage you to start taking steps TODAY to think about what it’s going to take for you specifically to transition out of your business or build a succession plan that will allow you to keep the business and generate passive income for retirement or to buy or build another business.
Beyond this, what federal and state governments do in terms of tax policy towards the sale of these 5-6 million businesses could dramatically affect employment, as well as the stability of our economy. If federal and state governments view these sales as a windfall – money for the taking – it could have disastrous consequences on our economy and literally leave million of people without retirement income and millions of employees out of work. So my message to lawmakers is to head Karen’s advice and the advice of her panel members.
In the mean time, if you are one of the 5-6 million small business owners “thinking” about cashing out in the next 10-15 years, or creating a succession plan, DON’T WAIT any longer. The time to start planning for this is today. Call me for a Complimentary Coaching Session at 203-210-7003, or e-mail me at joshslavitt@actioncoachnow.net and let’s set aside the time to really look at your business and determine what you need to do in preparation for one of the largest business deals you will make in your life.
Josh Slavitt and his son Liam
