He told the Dairy Women’s Network conference in Hamilton the needs of the business founders had rights over the successors.
“The people who have done all the hard work surely have the right to map out their future before they go into involving others in the business.”
It surprised him how many people had no idea how much money they would need for retirement, yet farm owners needed to plan how much capital they would need for their future, he said.
From that point, a succession plan could be developed to cater for the farm owners’ needs, before considering the opportunities for the successors. The key to a successful succession plan was to keep the options open and communicate.
“It is a process, not an event,” he said.
“Keep things flexible and see where life takes the stakeholders. Fair outcomes are going to be achieved through giving equal opportunity, not equal resources.”
There would be some circumstances where providing for the retiring generation or allocating equal resources for the successors would only be achieved by selling the farm. But even those decisions required a proactive succession plan to ensure the best possible outcome, he said.
Sitting around the table with farm business advisors and family members was a good start to review the capability of the business and to discuss people’s expectations.
