1.What is your current age?

Under 40

40 to 52

53 to 71

Over 70

2.What is your gender?

Male

Female

Prefer not to answer

3.What is the range of your company's annual revenue?

Below $5 million

$5M to $25M

$25M to $50M

$50M to $100M

Over $100M

4.How was your business started?

From scratch

Received from family

Purchased from family

Purchased from third party

Other (please specify)

5.What is the ownership structure of your company?

Family owned (100%)

Family owned with outside ownership (family controlled)

Family owned with outside ownership (outside ownership controlled)

Outside ownership (9199%)

Public company - not privately held

Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

6.If family owned, how long has your company been owned by the family?

One/first generation

Two/second generation

Third or more generation

Don't know

7.What industry are you in?  (Select one)

Retail

Wholesale trade or distribution

Energy

Business/Professional services

Technology/Communications

Utilities

Transportation

Construction

Manufacturing

Healthcare

Education

Real Estate

Insurance/Financial services

Other (please specify)

8.How is your business organized?

Limited Liability Corporation

S-Corporation

C-Corporation

Family Limited Partnership

ESOP

Other (please specify)

9.In what region is your company located?

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Iowa

Illinois

East Coast

South

Rocky Mountain Region

West Coast

Other (please specify)

10.When are you planning to transition the ownership of the company?

One to two years

Three to five years

Six to ten years

No plans to transition

11.Have you completed any formal education related to transitioning a business

Yes

No

12.Are you familiar with all your transition options?

Yes

No

13.How much do you agree with the following statement?  Having a transition strategy is important for my future as well as the future of my business?  (Select one)

Strongly agree

Agree

Somewhat agree

Disagree

Unsure

14.Have you sought outside advice regarding your transition plan?

Yes

No

15.Have you established a formal transition advisory team?

Yes

No

My Board of Advisors acts as my transition advisory team

16.Please check all advisor types that are on your transition team.

Corporate Attorney

Estate Attorney

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)/Securities Attorney

Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

Wealth or Financial Advisor

Exit Planning/Value Growth Advisor

Insurance Professional

M&A Advisor/Investment Banker

Spouse

Other family (non-spouse)

Banker/Leander

Other (please specify)

17.Who do you see as your must trusted advisor (select one)?

Banker

Accountant

Attorney

Financial Advisor

Insurance Professional

Another business owner or peer group

Spouse

Other family member (non-spouse)

Other (please specify)

18.Do you have outside (non-owner/non-family) board members on your Board?

Yes

No

We do not have a board of advisors or directors

19.Which statement best describes your pos-transition plan for what you will do after you transition your business ownership?

I have a written, formal plan of what I will do next

I have a good, informal plan of what I will do next

I have some ideas, but not a formal plan at this time

I have not really thought about what I will do after I transition my business ownership

20.If you have a personal transition plan indicated in the previous questions, please check all that your plan encompasses (select all that apply)

Written goals & objectives

Written action plan

Personal readiness assessment for transition

Personal risk assessment

Documented and updated Personal Financial Plan

Written tax minimization plan

Written estate plan

Written and updated WIll

21.What do you plan to do post-transition (Select all that apply)?

Philanthropy, civic or community work

Retire

Semi-retire

Buy another business

Invest in another business/serve on a board of another business

Consultant

No plans on what to do next

Other (please specify)

22.On the following scale, please rate how "ready" you consider yourself personally to transition away from your business and do something else (1 = not ready at all; 6 = completely ready)

1

2

3

4

5

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

23.How comfortable are you that your managerial team will be successful with the new ownership?

Very comfortable

Some concerns

Uncomfortable at present time

Have no thought about it

24.What best describes the level of family awareness of the managerial and ownership transition plans?

Aware of both the managerial and ownership transition plans

Aware of managerial only

Aware of ownership only

Not aware of either managerial and ownership transition plans

I do not have a transition plan

25.How often do you have formal family meetings with regards to the business?

Multiple times per year

Once a year

Less than once a year

Never

26.If managerial plans include key positions being filled by family members, how would you assess their level of readiness for this responsibility?

All family members filling key positions are ready

Some family members filling key positions are ready

No family members filling key positions are ready

Family members will not fill key positions going forward

27.If managerial plans include key positions being filled by family members, which of the following best describes measures being taken to train these family members for their positions (excluding college training)?

Formal training within the company only

Formal training outside the company only

Formal training inside and outside the company

No formal training; only on-the-job

N/A - We are not a family business

28.If there are multiple owners/partners in your business, do you have a written buy-sell agreement and has it been updated in the last three years?

Yes.  It is written and has been updated in the last three years

There is a written buy-sell agreement but it has not been updated in the last three years

We do not have a written buy-sell agreement even though there are multiple shareholders

I own 100% of the business

29.Is your buy-sell agreement funded by life insurance and/or disability policies?

Yes, both life and disability insurance are in place

Life insurance only

Disability insurance only

No, neither life or disability insurance is in place to fund a transition

30.Do you have a documented contingency plan in place for the business that addresses the possibility of a forced transition caused by death, divorce or disability?

We have a plan, but it is not written or documented

We have a written plan

There are no contingency plans

31.Is your contingency plan funded by life and disability insurance?

Yes, both life and disabliity insurance

Life insurance only

Disability insurance only

No, neither life insurance or disability insurance

32.What best describes your company transition plan?

We have a plan, but it is not written

We have a written plan, but it has not been communicated to management

We have a written plan that has been communicated to management, but it has not been communicated to the employees

We have a written plan that has been communicated to management and employees

There are no contingency plans

33.If you have a company transition plan indicated in the previous question, please check all that your plan encompasses (Select all that apply):

Written goals and objectives

Written action plans

Business market attractiveness assessment

Business readiness to transition assessment

Business risk assessment

Recasted financial statements

Business valuation 

Stated value growth target or goal

Strategic analysis and value enhancement plan

Written transition or value growth budget

Evaluation of ALL transition options

34.What best describes how you are planning on transitioning?

Internally - Transfer ownership within the family

Internally - Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

Internally - Management buy-out/buy-in

Internally - Sale to existing shareholders

Externally - Third party strategic buyer, private equity or non-family individual

Externally - Recapitalization through passive investors or other financing

Externally - Orderly liquidation/simply close

Not sure

Other (please specify)

35.Does your ownership transition plan require the company to remain profitable for your plan to be properly executed?

Yes - It is critical for the company to be successful for the ownership transition

It would be helpful for the company to be successful for the ownership transition

No, the success of the ownership transition is not really affected by the future success of the business

I do not have a transition plan

36.Which of the following represents your current understanding of the value of your company?

I have a good idea of what it is worth

I am not sure what my business is worth

I have had my business formally valued in within the past two years

37.Have you completed, in the last two years or have currently underway, a formal pre-transition value enhancement/preliminary due diligence project to reduce risk in the business, maximize its value and position it to successfully transfer to a new owner?

Yes

No

38.How foccued are you and your management team on growing the value of your business (Select all that apply)

We regularly measure and formally keep track of our business valuation

Key management is aware of the business value

Key management has objectives and incentives that are specifically tied to value growth gains

We measure and track the value of our intangible assets v. tangible assets

We produce regular recasted financial statements

None of the above.  Growing the business value is not the primary goal of the business.

39.On the following scale, please rate how "ready" your business is to successfully transfer to a new owner. (1 = not ready at all; 6 = completely ready)

1

2

3

4

5

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

40.On the following scale, please rate the strength of your personal financial position (strength of financial assets NOT including the business. (1 = weak; 6 = very strong)

1

2

3

4

5

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

41.Do you need the income produced by the business to support your present lifestyle?

Yes, the business provides most of the income to support my present lifestyle

No, my passive investments outside my business produce enough income to support my present lifestyle

I am not sure

42.Have you determined ho much you NEED (not want) to net, after taxes, from the transition of your company to fund your retirement or future goals?

Yes

No

43.Do you need (not want) to harvest the value of the business to support your lifestyle post transition?

Yes.  I need, not want, to harvest the value of my business to support my post-transition lifestyle

No.  I have adequate financial resources outside of the business to support my post-transition lifestyle

I am not sure

44.Has you tax minimization plan been updated for the most recent tax law changes?

Yes

I have a tax minimization plan but it has not been updated

I do not have a tax minimization plan

45.Has your estate plan been updated in the past two years?

Yes

I have an estate plan, but it has not been reviewed and updated in the past two years

I do not have an estate plan

46.Does your estate plan provide for the sale of your business?

Yes

No

47.Does your estate plan include an updated valuation of your business?

Yes

No

48.How would you best describe the level to which you have incorporated the transition of your business into your personal financial and estate plan?

Incorporated into both financial and estate plans

Incorporated into financial plan only

Incorporated into estate plan only

I haven't incorporated it into either financial or estate plans