I recently received an emotive email in response to our promotion of our upcoming Succession Planning course – and it moved me to call the sender. This lady had not long lost her husband and the driving force behind the family business and was still coming to terms with her grief, but had sent me an email to say how glad she was that we were running this course and that she hoped all family businesses would pay attention and prepare for the unexpected.

Although she and her husband had been given some warning that his time was limited and they had started to prepare themselves and the business, they did not count on the fact that he would lose mental capacity long before he lost his life. This took them by surprise and they were not able to finish their plans while he was still lucid. She told me that ‘so much of everything was in his head’ – and she is still only now finding out how much she doesn’t know.

Whether it is through illness or any other of the challenges that life throws us, it is never too soon to put plans in place. You can always change them afterwards, but please, put them in place now. If you would like to talk to me about the FBA Succession Planning course, I welcome your call anytime.

We held a wonderful workshop in Canberra late last month on Courageous Conversations – the sort of discussion that is difficult but necessary sometimes. A large group of members enjoyed learning from our skilled presenters – Philip Pryor and Craig Bulmer – and also enjoyed some valuable time getting to know each other better.

Which is something that I am attempting to do as well. I am slowly calling all members to say hello and to see if there are any better ways in which FBA can serve and support you, your family and your business. If you have ideas and would like to contribute, please give me a call anytime.

Wendy Foster
Manager, ACT & NSW
0418 901 521