Plan B Business
Cross-Vertical

Family business runs on relationships.
Real businesses run on roles.

We work with family-owned businesses doing $1M-$20M in annual revenue facing the hardest transitions: founder-to-second-generation handoff, sibling co-ownership disputes, in-law dynamics, or G2-to-G3 succession. Our 12-month engagement builds governance, defines roles, and creates the structure that lets the business outlast any single family member.

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Industry Reality

8 patterns we see in >70% of family-owned smbs

90%
frequency

Family roles and business roles are blurred (Dad is also CEO)

Root cause: Founder treats business decisions as family decisions. Family dinners become board meetings. Spouses and children have informal influence with no defined authority.

What we do: Documented role separation: family member identifies as 'Owner,' 'Employee,' or 'Board Member' for any given decision. Family Constitution drafted. Family Council separate from Board.

85%
frequency

No succession plan (or one founder won't talk about it)

Root cause: Founder avoids mortality conversations. Next-gen kids don't know if they're inheriting or building. Plan exists only in founder's head.

What we do: Written succession plan: timeline, equity transfer mechanics, leadership development path for next-gen, contingency plan for sudden incapacity. Reviewed annually.

75%
frequency

Next-gen family members in roles they didn't earn

Root cause: Founder hired the kids with no defined job description, performance expectations, or comp benchmarks. Non-family staff resent the dynamic.

What we do: Next-gen family members must work outside the business for 2+ years OR meet objective performance benchmarks tied to their role. Salary benchmarked to market. Performance reviews mandatory.

70%
frequency

Sibling co-ownership without operating agreement

Root cause: Siblings inherit equally with no documented decision-making structure, buyout mechanism, or dispute resolution process. Conflicts paralyze decisions.

What we do: Shareholder/operating agreement with defined voting rights, buy-sell triggers (death, divorce, disability, disagreement), and dispute resolution clauses. Reviewed every 3 years.

65%
frequency

In-law influence (spouse of family member wants involvement)

Root cause: Married-in family members want roles, equity, or decision rights. Founder generation didn't anticipate this.

What we do: Family Constitution explicitly defines who is 'family' for business purposes (bloodline vs. married-in), what roles are open to in-laws, and what happens at divorce. Painful conversations had once, instead of repeatedly.

75%
frequency

Estate planning not aligned with business plan

Root cause: Founder's will distributes equity equally to children. But only one child works in business. Operating tension built into the inheritance.

What we do: Estate plan revised in coordination with business succession: voting vs non-voting shares, buy-sell funding through life insurance, gift/grant strategies. Requires CPA + attorney coordination - we facilitate, not execute.

80%
frequency

No outside Board or advisors

Root cause: All decisions made within family. No outside perspective. Family blind spots amplified.

What we do: Establish Board with 2-3 outside Directors (independent business owners or executives). Quarterly meetings with real agenda. Outside Directors compensated $5K-$15K per year.

85%
frequency

Founder won't let go of operational decisions

Root cause: Founder has 30+ years of pattern recognition. Doesn't trust next-gen to make decisions. Next-gen disengages.

What we do: Defined 'decision rights' matrix: which decisions are CEO-level (next-gen), which are Board-level (mixed), which are Founder-only (during transition). Founder commits to a documented step-down timeline.

Benchmarks

The numbers we hit

KPIMarket avgPlan B targetAfter 12 mo
Family members working in business with formal job description25%100%85-100%
Written succession plan in place30%YesYes
Outside Board members0-12-32-3
Founder weekly involvement (post-transition target)50-65 hrs<20 hrs25-40 hrs (transition in progress)
Family-employee turnover (non-family staff)40-55%<20%20-30%
Documented decision rights matrix0%YesYes
Annual family/business meetings (formal)0-14+3-4
Engagement Model

What working with us looks like

  1. 01

    Month 1: Family + business diagnostic

    Individual conversations with each family member involved in the business. Confidential. We map the formal org chart, the informal influence map, financial structure, and the unspoken conflicts. You leave with a written assessment of the family-business system.

  2. 02

    Months 2-4: Governance structure + family constitution

    We facilitate the drafting of a Family Constitution (values, decision rights, employment policies for family members, conflict resolution). Family Council and Board structures defined. First outside Board members recruited.

  3. 03

    Months 5-8: Succession + roles

    Written succession plan drafted with timeline. Next-gen family members get formal job descriptions, performance benchmarks, compensation aligned to market. Founder step-down timeline committed to writing.

  4. 04

    Months 9-12: Operating system + transition

    Family Council meets quarterly. Board meets quarterly with real agenda. Founder begins step-down. Next-gen takes operational ownership of defined areas. We shift to bi-annual cadence by month 18.

Common questions from family-owned smbs owners

What size family business is this for?−
Sweet spot: $1M-$20M annual revenue. Below $1M, the family-business complexity may not yet justify formal governance. Above $20M, you typically need specialized family office advisors and we'd partner with them rather than lead.
Do you work with any industry, or specific ones?+
Any industry. Family business dynamics transcend vertical: we've worked with family-owned manufacturers, restaurants, accounting firms, construction companies, retail stores. The family-business system is what we address. We complement industry-specific advisors, we don't replace them.
What if family members don't want to participate?+
Common challenge. We start with whoever will engage and demonstrate value. Family members who initially refuse often join after seeing tangible results. We never force participation - we create the structure that makes participation worthwhile.
Are you therapists? This sounds like family therapy.+
No, and the distinction matters. We're business consultants who specialize in family-owned business dynamics. We facilitate hard conversations, but they're about business decisions: ownership structure, employment policies, succession timing, decision rights. If family therapy is needed, we coordinate with licensed family therapists - we don't replace them.
What about estate planning and tax strategy?+
We facilitate alignment between business succession plan and estate plan, but we don't write the estate plan or tax strategy. We work in coordination with your CPA and estate attorney. If you don't have one, we have a vetted referral network.
What if the founder won't agree to step down?+
Most common scenario. We don't force timelines - we create the structure that makes step-down feel safe (defined decision rights, retained Board chair role, defined consultation rights, financial security via buy-sell funding). Founders step down when the path forward feels safe, not when forced.
Sibling co-owners can barely speak. Can you really help?+
Yes, and often the structural fix is more important than the relationship fix. A clear operating agreement with documented decision rights, voting structures, and buy-sell triggers removes 70% of the daily friction. The siblings still don't have to like each other - they just have to follow the agreement.
Will you talk to family members individually or always together?+
Both. We start with individual confidential conversations to map the system. We facilitate group conversations once trust is established. Some conversations stay confidential to us indefinitely - that's part of how we maintain trust across the family.
Who does the work?+
Ligal Frish and Eitan Eshtemaker - the two co-founders. Direct access, no associates. Family business work requires personal trust and consistent voices.
What's your fee structure?+
Diagnostic: $2,500 one-time (extended for family business complexity). Advisor: $4,500/month (most family businesses, 12-18 month engagement). Partner: $9,500+/month (multi-generational or G2-to-G3 transitions).

Family business runs on relationships. Real businesses run on roles.

30-minute strategy call. We'll diagnose your top 2 levers and tell you if we're a fit. No pitch. No pressure.

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