Business Strategic Planning
Your legacy includes the work you do and how it supports your family, for many generations to come. You are not in business simply for the money, but for the impact you are leaving in the world. With our LIFT (legal, insurance, financial, and tax) planning model, we help you do things the right way and know that your family and your business are taken care of, without you being the one who has to do it all.
What if . . .
You could spend more time with your kids/partner, or travel more, or enjoy your hobbies without guilt, or not worry about the cost of groceries? You could be so financially secure that you didn't feel the need to immediately deposit that check because you are always a month ahead on bills? You stop allowing your business to run you and instead you run your business?
Our Unique Approach to Business Planning
We plan for your business far differently than many lawyers and law firms. As entrepreneurs ourselves, we are intimately familiar with the struggles that come from business ownership - whether it is struggling with hiring, maintaining compliance, balancing your books, cash flow management, working with customers or all the above!
Experiencing first-hand the limitations of one-off transactional work in our own businesses, we have built a service model that does not just put in place legal documents, but instead gives you the peace of mind of knowing you have not only set your business up right from the get go, but that your business systems continue to keep up with your growth trajectory. Although we focus on (and commit to strengthening) your legal foundation to support you where you are now, we also want to ensure you're set up for the growth you envision in your business.
The unfortunate truth is some lawyers do not consider anything beyond the legal aspects of business, and even with that, they tend to only handle the one thing you contacted them for—such as entity setup, legal agreement review, or intellectual property setup —without a comprehensive audit of what you actually need, so you can stay proactive about getting your foundations in place (rather than reacting and trying to fix things after the fact or when something goes wrong).
You have big dreams and we want to help you realize them. Think of working with us, whether just in the initial Session or beyond, as an investment in that dream.
We can help you:
- Get clear on your business model and your income expectations.
- Set up the business structure you need to support those plans.
- Implement the agreements needed to seal the deal with clients, customers, team members, suppliers, distributors, vendors, investors, and lenders.
- Protect those relationships for years to come.
- Vet strategies to save money on your taxes.
- Make sure you get your financial systems set up for success (and that you actually do what you need to do in that regard).
…and you’re confident that you are protected in case something goes awry.
Getting Clear On The LIFT Foundation Your Business Needs During the Three Stages of Growth
When you do not have a solid foundation of legal, insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT) systems in place for your business, your business tends to manage you - forcing you into the role of employee rather than business owner. Our unique LIFT planning process helps reveal gaps in your business foundation so that you can make LIFT decisions for your business in order to build the life and business that prompted you to start your business to begin with. We help empower you through education and decision-making strategies to live a life on your own terms by applying the systems and fundamental principles that you will learn working with us.
01 |Start-Up Phase
Our primary focus at this stage is to separate your personal matters from your business. This includes getting your personal legal matters handled, establishing a foundation of insurance to protect you and your business, getting clear on how much money you need from your business to support your family, and ultimately knowing how much is enough.
02 |Building Phase
Our primary focus here is to help you shift from a concept to a business. We help you map a three-year plan to get you from where you are now to where you want to go, and we will review things like systematizing your service, productizing it for leverage, establishing full team support, creating consistent cash flow, and maintaining the steady clarity that is required for you to truly be a leader of people.
03 |Scaling Phase
Our primary focus at this stage is to help you become a company and invest for legacy. We will plan for your exit or succession strategy, help you create a leadership team, advise on hiring an operations executive, institute a business operating system that works for you, and help you get into your role as leader and visionary to do only what you can do.
How We Work
Whether you have a one-off legal project you need help with or looking for a long term strategic partner, business guidance begins with a LIFT Audit to review the legal, insurance, financial, and tax systems in your business. Think of it this way: When you go to the doctor for an issue you are having, your doctor asks for your medical history to help diagnose the problem or develop a treatment plan. The same approach applies here.
We help you to create a customized LIFT (legal, insurance, financial, and tax) foundational plan that includes elements of all of the following, depending on what is best for you, your family, and your business. We have thoughtfully packaged what we do into customizable options for you and your family, and all of our fees are flat-rate and agreed to in advance so there are no surprises.
Legal + Business Strategy Packages
Depending on your needs, we serve our business clients in the following ways:
- One-Off Legal Work Transactions - billed at a flat rate (includes the LIFT Assessment)
- 90-Day Business Consulting (either in a group or 1:1 context)
- 90-Day Strategic Implementation
- On-Going Outsourced General Counsel Services
- Exit/Succession Planning Services
We build long-term relationships with our clients, serving as holistic strategic partners to provide you the education and support needed to build a team around your business, at the right budget and right size. We will work with you effectively and efficiently, asking the right questions and getting the right answers, each step of the way. For that reason, our packages are all flat fee investments, providing you predictability in your business cash flow and providing proactive service to help minimize the risk that you will have an unexpected legal expense that was not budgeted for.
What to Expect During Your LIFT Business Planning Session
We have blocked one hour off on our calendar for your LIFT Business Breakthrough Session to meet with you and anyone else who has any decision-making authority in the business, such as a business partner, or executive team members that would oversee the LIFT parts of your business. If you have a business partner, and want to meet with us separately, please email or call us in advance to share the details about how you handle these matters separately.
During the meeting, we’ll walk through your LIFT Assessment (which you’ll receive and return before the Session) and rate each of the 20 points on a scale of 1-10 from the perspective of whether you have that item in place now, and whether you understand what needs to be handled regularly. By doing this, we will identify where the holes are in your LIFT Foundation, or in your own knowledge. And, if there are holes in the foundation or your knowledge, we will develop with you a list of actionable to-do's to fill them so you can reach your life and business objectives.
There is no obligation to work with us after you come in for your session. We’re going to look at your current situation, see where the holes are, and give you a choice about how involved you want us to be in filling those holes and what our involvement will cost. Then, you can make an informed decision about whether you want to go it alone or with our support.
The best part is, there will never be any surprises. All of our fees are flat fees, agreed to in advance, with no hourly billing, no surprise invoices, and nothing to worry about at all. And, of course, you’ll only engage us if you see we can make you more money than you are investing.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Process
How much does a LIFT Business Session cost?
The LIFT Business Session is a 1-hour working strategic meeting valued at $500. However, if you submit the Assessment and relevant documents ahead of time and, if you have business partners you are all in attendance, then we WAIVE the Session Fee.
How much does this cost?
Because each Strategic Plan is uniquely built to serve your business - and each business is in a different stage - we cannot quote fees online or over the phone. However, we have designed our fees on a flat-fee basis so that you know exactly what you are committing to, leaving no surprises.
Do you offer financing?
Yes! We can break payment into multiple payments as an interest-free financing option. We also accept financed payments through LawPay.
Do I need an LLC?
Almost always yes. If you are the owner of a business of any size, you need at least some legal entity that is separate from you. This could include a limited liability company (LLC), limited liability partnership (LLP), or other professional legal entities specifically for lawyers, doctors, etc. No matter the situation or what kind of business you have, the first most important thing you can do to sleep better at night is to ensure you have established a separate legal entity for your business, otherwise your personal assets such as your home, your savings, or your nest egg are at risk of being wiped out if you find yourself in a personal lawsuit related to your business.
I rely on my financial advisor or CPA for advice. Why do I need an attorney?
In the world of business planning – especially in the world of protecting your personal assets from business liability, the best outcome for you, your family, and your business will be achieved only by working with a lawyer who encounters business planning situations daily. You have worked your whole life for what you have and the business you have created. While financial advisors and CPAs play an important role in your planning, they cannot give you legal advice. We encourage a lifelong relationship between you and your group of trust advisors (your financial professional, your CPA, and yes your lawyer) so that you can rely an advisory group for life to be there for your family and your business when you cannot be.
What is an S-Corp?
S-corp tax treatment is a popular election for many small business owners because of the potential tax savings. To be an s-corp, you have to first establish your business as a limited liability company (LLC) or corporation. The reason you do that step first is because to be an “s-corp” means simply that you are a business entity electing a certain tax treatment; an “s-corp” is not an entity type in and of itself. Once you have established your business as an LLC or corporation with your state, then you can complete the appropriate IRS form to elect s-corp tax treatment. Whether or not you should elect s-corp tax treatment depends on many factors, and before making any decision we recommend you explore the question with your business lawyer, as there is not a cookie-cutter answer as to whether s-corp status is right for any particular business.
My business is only a side hustle, do I really need 'LIFT' planning?
Whether you have a job, a side hustle, a practice, a business, or a company that you can sell one day, it can be easy to get lost along the way to becoming the CEO of your life and your business. No matter where your income comes from and how much it is, we know that you want to keep your hard-earned money, and that you cannot afford to keep losing money on the wrong investments, advisors, or simple errors that are easy to avoid when you have clear guidance on your legal, insurance, financial, and tax foundations.
Can I deduct what I spend on LIFT planning?
Yes! Any legitimate business expense is deductible, and proper legal, insurance, financial, and tax planning is a legitimate business expense. Of course, check with your CPA for any exact tax rules on how to treat certain types of business expenses. In any event, expenses to get the right LIFT foundation in place for your business is deductible and not subject to personal income tax.
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