Kelley Keller

Trademark Attorney & Business Legal Coach for Digital Entrepreneurs

  • Home
  • About Kelley
  • Learning Center
    • Free Business Resources for Entrepreneurs
    • Rock Solid Business School
  • Speaking
  • Blog
  • Contact
JOIN ENTREPRENEURS AND BUSINESS OWNERS JUST LIKE YOU AND STAY UP TO DATE ON NEWS AND INFORMATION THAT MATTERS!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

5 Looming Disasters if You Don’t Have a Business Succession Plan

September 16, 2019 By Kelley Keller

5 Looming Disasters if You Don’t Have a Business Succession Plan

As a business owner, you have a lot of responsibilities resting on your shoulders. From your family to your clients, employees, and partners, there are a lot of people counting on you today and in the future. Do you have a business succession plan in place to make sure they’re all taken care of if you can no longer take care of your business?

Unfortunately, most businesses aren’t liquid enough to continue operating and supporting the owner’s family and employees if the owner dies or is no longer physically or mentally capable of running the company. However, with the right plan in place, you can ensure the people you care about the most are well provided for if anything happens to you.

In other words, you need a life and death plan that fully (and correctly) identifies what should happen to your business if you can’t run it anymore. I know, thinking about your death isn’t the most pleasant prospect but doing so can actually make both your life and your business so much better.

The truth is you need a business succession plan that ensures the people you care about avoid facing true disasters when you’re gone. For example, here are just five of the disasters waiting in the future if you don’t have a rock solid business succession plan in place before you die or become unable to run your business:

  1. Your business will have to close because you don’t have enough insurance (or the right kind of insurance) to provide the cash needed to keep the business going.
  2. Someone you don’t want to lead your company could end up in charge if you don’t have a written plan in place that designates who will run your business (or prepare it for sale).
  3. Your business won’t be able to serve its customers, collect payments, or pay bills because there is no documented access to your digital business assets.
  4. Your business and your family will have to fight to keep your business if they end up in probate court.
  5. Your business and personal assets as well as your intellectual property could be lost to the State Department of Unclaimed Property.

The good news is that all of these disasters are easily avoided with a well-written business succession plan. Once you have this plan in place, you’ll have peace of mind that if anything happens to you, the people you care about most—your family, clients, team, and partners—will be cared for in exactly the way that you want. This reassurance frees you up to focus on generating more income and making your big dreams a reality today!

When you create and document your business succession plan, you not only ensure the operational legacy of your business is protected but you can also secure the more personal legacy of your business. Through written, video, and audio recordings, you can save the story of your business and leave a documented legacy of your experiences and the lessons you learned along the way as you built a successful company. It’s an important part of business succession planning that you shouldn’t forget!

Save

Save

About Kelley Keller

Kelley Keller, Esq. is an intellectual property (IP) attorney, speaker, and educator with two decades of experience in the IP field. She works with individuals and businesses in a wide variety of industries helping them transform their ideas, knowledge, and innovation into valuable business assets that drive profits. Kelley offers education to established businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, non-profits, government agencies, legal professionals, and students about starting and growing a business as well as about IP, social media law, and the importance of protecting valuable brand assets and creative work.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

STAY UP TO DATE

Join business owners just like you and stay up to date on news and information that matters!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Browse Articles by Category

  • Branding
  • Commentary
  • Contracts and Agreements
  • Copyrights
  • Courses
  • Employees
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Family Business
  • Finance
  • Free Resources
  • Infographics
  • Intellectual Property
  • Learning Center
  • Legal
  • Marketing
  • Patents
  • Small Business
  • Social Media
  • Starting a Business
  • Startups
  • Supply Chain
  • Tax
  • Trade Secrets
  • Trademarks

What People are Saying about Kelley Keller

Lisa Frederiksen | Author, Speaker, Trainer, Consultant at BreakingTheCycles.com

Kelley works differently. After an initial phone conversation (I live in CA and she's in PA), she drafted a scope of work for both efforts and set a flat fee which included (and still includes) the back and forth conversations a client needs in order to get the best results. She is extremely knowledgeable and truly able to "hear" what I'm after and create meaningful legal documents and advice that have helped me immeasurably. I highly recommend Kelley Keller.
2016-04-23T10:27:42-05:00
Kelley works differently. After an initial phone conversation (I live in CA and she's in PA), she drafted a scope of work for both efforts and set a flat fee which included (and still includes) the back and forth conversations a client needs in order to get the best results. She is extremely knowledgeable and truly able to "hear" what I'm after and create meaningful legal documents and advice that have helped me immeasurably. I highly recommend Kelley Keller.
http://kelleykeller.com/testimonials/lisa-frederiksen/

Kelly Phillips Erb | Senior Editor at Forbes

Kelley was able to explain complicated legal issues in a manner that was easy to understand without being patronizing. She was also great at talking me down from ledges - it was easy to get worked up when opposing parties weren't being cooperative but Kelley advised me to trust in the process and she was right.

Kelley explained my costs and options, as well as the pros and cons of each. She also kept me informed about my matter, letting me know what I needed to do at the appropriate time. All in all, I felt very involved in the process without being overwhelmed. Kelley made a wildly stressful situation so much better. I would highly recommend her services.
2016-04-23T10:42:43-05:00
Kelley was able to explain complicated legal issues in a manner that was easy to understand without being patronizing. She was also great at talking me down from ledges - it was easy to get worked up when opposing parties weren't being cooperative but Kelley advised me to trust in the process and she was right. Kelley explained my costs and options, as well as the pros and cons of each. She also kept me informed about my matter, letting me know what I needed to do at the appropriate time. All in all, I felt very involved in the process without being overwhelmed. Kelley made a wildly stressful situation so much better. I would highly recommend her services.
http://kelleykeller.com/testimonials/kelly-phillips-erb-senior-editor-forbes/

Charlotte Avery | CEO at Being Charlotte Avery

Words cannot express how much I appreciate Kelley Keller. She has helped me and my business on so many levels. Whenever I have a question I always know that I can call her and she will give me the best advice/counsel. I know that my business is in good hands with Kelley.

Kelley, THANK YOU for EVERYTHING!!!
2016-04-23T10:46:03-05:00
Words cannot express how much I appreciate Kelley Keller. She has helped me and my business on so many levels. Whenever I have a question I always know that I can call her and she will give me the best advice/counsel. I know that my business is in good hands with Kelley. Kelley, THANK YOU for EVERYTHING!!!
http://kelleykeller.com/testimonials/charlotte-avery-ceo-charlotte-avery/

Ruth Koup | Founder of Suits to Careers, Inc., Dress for Success South Central PA & Tied to Success

Kelley Clements Keller, Esq has been a huge support to the launch of our new umbrella organization, Suits to Careers, Inc. and the branding and trademarking of our men's program, Tied to Success. We could not have navigated this transition without her support. Many thanks.
2016-04-23T10:49:27-05:00
Kelley Clements Keller, Esq has been a huge support to the launch of our new umbrella organization, Suits to Careers, Inc. and the branding and trademarking of our men's program, Tied to Success. We could not have navigated this transition without her support. Many thanks.
http://kelleykeller.com/testimonials/ruth-koup/

Matt Bloom | Founder & CEO of CRIMEWATCH Technologies, Inc.

Kelley is an exceptional IP attorney. She understands the legal nuances facing start-ups and is willing to work within those restrictions. Kelley is casual and easy to work with, but when it comes to legal action she is aggressive and takes charge. She has successfully helped us secure coexistence agreements and trademarks for our business. Here expertise has added exponential value to the technology we have built and I would highly recommend her to anyone seeking IP representation.
2016-04-23T10:53:29-05:00
Kelley is an exceptional IP attorney. She understands the legal nuances facing start-ups and is willing to work within those restrictions. Kelley is casual and easy to work with, but when it comes to legal action she is aggressive and takes charge. She has successfully helped us secure coexistence agreements and trademarks for our business. Here expertise has added exponential value to the technology we have built and I would highly recommend her to anyone seeking IP representation.
http://kelleykeller.com/testimonials/matt-bloom-founder-ceo-crimewatch-technologies-inc/

Zachary Ziegler | Brewmaster at Molly Pitcher Brewing Company

Kelley is not only extremely knowledgeable in the realm of intellectual property, but she made the whole process fun! It's not often you hear fun and legal work in the same sentence but Kelley's personality eased my worries while keeping me upbeat the whole time. She explained the entire process in language I could understand and kept me updated continuously. I would not hesitate to work with her again or refer her to my friends and family.
2016-04-23T10:54:48-05:00
Kelley is not only extremely knowledgeable in the realm of intellectual property, but she made the whole process fun! It's not often you hear fun and legal work in the same sentence but Kelley's personality eased my worries while keeping me upbeat the whole time. She explained the entire process in language I could understand and kept me updated continuously. I would not hesitate to work with her again or refer her to my friends and family.
http://kelleykeller.com/testimonials/zachary-ziegler-brewmaster-molly-pitcher-brewing-company/
35 E. High Street
Carlisle, PA 17013
717-386-5035 • 800-971-2979HELLO@KELLEYKELLER.COM
Terms of Service  |  Privacy Policy  |  Disclaimer

Your information will never be shared or sold to a third party.

©2016-2018 Kelley Keller, Inc.