MiTek Industries Inc. (MiTek), a diversified, global business supplying a wide range of engineered products; proprietary business management and design software; and automated equipment to the construction and industrial markets, announced that it has added Mark Thom to its leadership as the new CEO. The current CEO, Tom Manenti, will assume the role of executive chairman for 2017. Manenti will continue to report to Warren Buffett.

Each aspect of a business owner’s personal, business, and financial planning goals should be examined and integrated in order to support the owner’s motives and goals. 

Family businesses have long been a mainstay of the industry, and multigenerational companies are proud of their HVACR heritages. And, in spite of the challenges, many contractors have successfully passed the torch to succeeding generations and are now planning for future transitions.

Exiting and succession are not events but complex processes that take time. The exit plan will get the process started, while the succession plan will bring everything together to allow an owner to gracefully exit the business and protect his or her wealth.

This article will address the common confusion found in differentiating a business exit from a business succession. Both are needed to successfully exit a business, unlock trapped wealth, protect one’s legacy, and successfully move the company into the next generation or to an external buyer.

More than 70 percent of all businesses in the United States are family businesses, generating more than half of the U.S. gross national product (GNP). However, two out of three don’t survive to the next generation. How does a family business remain on the plus side of these statistics?

Each day, my goal is to help owners. I do this by speaking to audiences and publishing as many articles as possible to protect them from making the same costly mistakes we did — even though my team was one of the lucky ones that cashed out and successfully passed the baton to our fourth-generation management team.

While the working relationships that are formed are special, family members also face many challenges, from family arguments spreading to the office to disputes over succession. But many HVAC contractors have learned to successfully navigate these issues and are planning how the business will go forward with the next generation.