Foresight Advisors brings diverse and deep experience to assisting the family business and their advisors. Our family business consultants bring years of experience to working with the family circle on conflict management, with the management circle in strategic planning and/or operational improvement and with the ownership circle in analyzing major changes in estate planning or capital structure or implementing a board of advisors.

Engagements may include

• Strategic planning
• Transition planning
• Succession planning
• Building governance structures such as a Management Team, Family Senate or Board of Advisors and facilitating their meetings
• Establishing policies for family-member entry into the business
• Facilitating key decision-making meetings such as those for strategic direction, ownership and succession planning
• Compensation, job-description and accountability design

We take a collaborative approach and pair up team members with complementary skills and knowledge to assure the client that the best family business consulting practices are used and ensure that quality and perspective is always maintained.

Foresight Advisors can help you keep your business engine tuned up and in good working order.  In closely-held partnerships as well as  strictly family-owned businesses we work in a modular approach with one or more of the three systems that make up the business.

Three Circle Model

The Management Circle symbolizes the building and continuation of a competitive and profitable business that creates wealth and equity for the family and the business owners. Strategies that incorporate strategic planning, leadership development, good governance, and organizational development are critical to the ongoing success of the operation.

The objective of the management circle is to ensure that you are working on the business as well as in the business.

The focus of this area is to build and maintain a healthy business. It’s exactly like the story of the goose that lays the golden eggs. It’s vital that the goose stays in peak condition and doesn’t burn itself out by laying too many eggs!

The business must be able to respond to the competitive pressures within which it operates. Without a definite plan to guide them, most businesses will not reach their full potential.

At the same time, this circle is about people and the roles they play. While a founder’s identity is invariably entwined with the business, this is not always the case with the second or third generation. Their identity is often obscured by the business. Family members involved in the business need to be put in a position where they can excel. This does not necessarily mean they play a leadership role.

As with the other areas, Management issues should be addressed in a different forum from the Family and Ownership issues. The focus of the Management area is to oversee the short-term goals of the business – the day-to-day stuff.

We strongly recommend a Board of Directors or Advisory Board to provide structure for the operational side of the business. Add to that,  a management team to implement the business strategies and oversee the day-to-day operations of the business, and you have a valuable process to build a competent thriving company.

The Family Circle represents the emotional capital of the family in business, where family members support each other and have empathy for one another. A successful family business must have strong communication channels, deal with areas of conflict and emotions, build traditions and focus on creating a legacy.

The success of a family enterprise has much riding on its ability to manage both the family and the business. However, the unconscious blending of these two entities can be dangerous to both. Priorities for the business differ greatly from those of the family. There needs to be a clear distinction between the two entities.

By separating the family issues from the ownership issues and management of the business, family members will not only understand the importance of building a strong family unit, but be in a better position to ensure that everyone is valued as a family member and respected for who they are. In adopting the principles of empathy and support, families can ensure that individuals keep their identity and sense of personal self-worth. In the Family circle, we provide services and deal with those issues that affect individuals directly and the business indirectly.

A good practice is to develop a Family Charter and Family Participation Plan to provide structure and an forum for communication and participation of both working and inactive family members.

The Ownership Circle considers the management of wealth within the family business. Managing the ownership area of the business involves more than just minimizing taxes and protecting the wealth. This is the area that requires contingency and continuity plans, using such tactics as tax planning, estate planning and personal financial planning, to endure an equitable balance that is fair to both the individual family members and the business. Giving everyone an equal ownership of the business can cause conflict. It is not appropriate to put family members into ownership together when there isn’t a common interest.

To take the first step in planning for your eventual transition, we recommend that you take a complimentary test of the “Where Are You Now ?”  Discovery Questionnaire which will help you determine where your family business is now, in terms of its business, succession, and retirement planning activity.

If you are then interested in taking this a step further, we would be happy to arrange for you to participate in the full survey where all family members with an interest or involvement in the business complete the questionnaire independently and in confidence.

This process helps to identify the conflicts and differences of opinion that need to be resolved to facilitate the development of a successful family business and/or transfer of ownership and management to the next generation. You will receive a detailed synopsis and profile of the key issues, concerns, potential conflicts and building blocks for the future. This report will highlight the areas where family consultation and business planning activity are most needed.

This questionnaire also provides you with a benchmark so that subsequent re-completion of the survey will give you a clear indication of the progress you have made in addressing some of the highlighted issues.

To take the free Discovery Survey.   Follow this link:

www.successcare.com/survey.cfm

EDWARD S. ROSENFELD

President

After selling his second generation family residential and office furniture rental business of which he was CEO to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, Ed is now a financial and  business advisor. Ed has diverse business management and entrepreneurial expertise in the retail,manufacturing, distribution,real estate, and energy management businesses.

His  practice focuses on advising family and other entrepreneurial businesses and their owners on strategic and succession planning, governance and wealth management.

He has been active in the Family Firm Institute, The Estate Planning Council of New York and the Association for Conflict Resolution.Ed has Bachelors and Masters Social Science degrees from Columbia University He received mediator training through the Bar Association of the City of New York, The Center for Mediation in Law and New York University’s Mediator Training Program and has been active in several progressive business organizations including Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, Business for Social Responsibility and The Small Business Majority and currently serves on the Advisory Board of Cleantech Corridor.

Grant Robinson,

Co-Founder The SuccessCare® Program

A member of a family accounting business for a number of years, Grant Robinson founded his own public accounting practice in 1986. Having coached many entrepreneurs and their families through the process of planning for the future, Grant acted upon his passion for family businesses and launched The SuccessCare® Program in 1996.

His objective is to ensure that business owners have a choice around the eventual ‘sale’ of their business and that their goals and objectives are met. For families that choose to transition the business to the next generation, Grant focuses on ensuring that all parties are treated fairly and equitably.

Grant has facilitated the family business transition process for many clients including both high profile and medium-sized Canadian businesses. The following are examples of some of Grant’s consulting work:

• Development of a family vision and a related business vision
• Creation of a decision-making process for families who work together
• Creation of the owner’s estate plan
• Design of a comprehensive succession plan that meets the objectives of all
• Creation of a detailed business plans for growth.
• Design and implementation of a Family Council with regular facilitated meetings
• Development of a Family Charters that included a family participation plan
• Design and implementation of an ownership advisory boards
• Design and implementation of a management boards
• Review of the family business governance structure

Grant is an ongoing contributor to various magazines and publications. As the technical editor for the CA Magazine’s Business Advisory Team, he regularly publishes articles that support and motivate business owners. He earned his economics degree at the University of Guelph is a member of • CAFÉ, the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise, member of the National Business Advisors’ Steering Committee and a Family Firm Institute member and has completed its Family Business Advisor Certification Program.

Gary Brooks

Family Business Advisor

Gary Brooks is nationally recognized as a turnaround and crisis management professional. He hasover 35 years of diversified executive management and consulting experience. He has counseled and provided interim management services to more than 400 companies. Clients are referred principally by those who may be at financial risk (e.g. lenders, investors, directors, etc.) if an enterprise fails to meet performance expectations and by members of the professional community.

Gary also serves as a facilitator to help family members benefit from alternative means of dispute resolution. Gary’s involvement in cases often offers a new (sometimes only) means by which the barriers among all concerned parties, particularly lenders, creditors, employees, customers, and family members can be lowered and efforts toward resolving the issues can begin.

Currently, Gary is a member of the Board of Directors of Diomed Holdings, Inc., a medical products company specializing in minimally invasive therapies, Chairman of the Board of VRSim, Inc., developers of virtual reality technology and serves as the Managing Director of the Central Fund of the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance.

Gary was a founding member of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA), and served as first President of the Association of Certified Turnaround Professionals. He also served as Director and as national Chair of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC). He was graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received an MS degree from the University of Rochester. . Credentials include election as a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and as a Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP).

Mr. Brooks writes frequently for publication in Journals serving the profession and lectures often, having spoken to the Family Firm Institute, Turnaround Management Association and at numerous private wealth conferences. He has also served as Visiting Professor at Schools of Business Administration of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Long Island University, Pace University and the University of Rochester..