What happens to my business if I die?

Conversation
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Good Evening all…

Just curious to get some feedback if anyone has ideas as to how to plan for my business future in case of my “untimely passing”… My wife and I have recently been discussing what would happen, what should she do if I were to pass and she be left with the business…

Quick background…
I’m 42, my wife runs the office (is paid), I have been cleaning for 17 years and run a well established business in our area. We are referral and are the most reputable company in the area. Unfortunately we turn away a large portion of new business due to the fact we book out months in advance and summers book almost a year in advance now…

I have a 1 man pressure wash crew and I lead my window crew with 2 summer workers. Aprox 375K-395K a year in sales. We have found our sweet spot and plan on leaving it at this level as it is predicable and little to no issues with labor, expenses, logistics, etc.

The question is… IF I DIED… What should she do with the business?

~ I do not have an employee that could step into my shoes at this time.

~ Maybe try and sell the business? (we use customer factor and quickbooks so all records, client lists are quantifiable)

~ Hire someone to step into my role as a crew leader/manager and she run the office?

I want her to have some peace of mind about what may happen if I passed and she is left holding the reigns and I really don’t know where to start.

Thought about checking with an estate planner, but thought I would see if anyone in the industry had valuable knowledge that may help me in the right direction…

Thanks in Advance… JB

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One option is a life insurance policy on yourself, that would effectively cover the cost of the business, that the business pays for. This way your wife has a fairly large sum of money at your passing, and then she can decide what she wants to do with the business. In the meantime, systematize, systematize, systematize to make it easier for your wife to “hire” your replacement. If she decides to sell, make a list of possible companies and their contacts that might consider purchasing.

Very smart of you to be thinking of the future, good luck, Rocco

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Thank you Rocco!

I do have plenty of Life Ins she would not have to work probably (if she wanted to) but her thing is all the work we put into the business for the past 17 years for her to be able to benefit/sell/or receive possibly residual income from it would be nice.

You are correct in that if I had a plan for hiring one individual it would take a lot of the uncertainty out of it. Just don’t want her to have to deal with all that on top of emotions/kids/ then a business to run…

She currently does payroll, banking, scheduling, calls, etc… pretty much just needs someone to deliver on the work and follow the daily agenda with good customer service skills, and oh yea be able to clean windows… HAHA!

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts…