Protecting your business and your partners

Their share usually goes to their estate, and their family can become your new business partner. A buy-and-sell agreement, funded by insurance, changes that. You can buy their share at a fair price, and their family gets cash instead of a business they did not choose.

Insurance the business takes out on someone it cannot easily replace. If that person dies or becomes disabled, the payout helps the business cope. It can replace lost profit, pay for recruiting, or reassure the bank.

Salary, dividends or a mix. Each is taxed differently, and the right split changes as the business grows. It is worth your accountant and your planner looking at it together.

Retirement funding, group life and disability cover help you attract and keep good people, and they protect your staff’s families. There are options for small teams, not only big employers.

Many owners plan to sell the business to retire, but a sale may not come when you want it or at the price you hope for. It is safer to build savings outside the business too. A retirement annuity gives you a tax deduction as you go.