Tag: intellectual property

Business Succession Planning

One day you will have to leave your business – whether its because you retire, you pass the business on to your family, you sell it to an interested party, or because of health circumstances.

Whatever those circumstances are, you always should have a plan to deal with what happens when that day comes. A failure to do so will likely result in your business suddenly coming to an end if something happens to you.

A succession, or exit, plan outlines who will take over your business when you leave or if something happens to you.

A good succession plan puts into place a process that will enable a smooth transition from you to your successor, that minimises disruptions to your business resulting from that transition. A good succession plan also gives potential purchasers peace of mind that the business will not fail the moment you leave. Putting a succession plan in place can maximise the value of your business and enable it to meet future needs or deal with unexpected issues.

What an appropriate plan is will depend on the nature of your business as well as the structure of your business. Some of the questions that you will have to ask are:

  • How long do I want to be in business?
  • Do I want to sell the business eventually or do I want to hand it down to my children?
  • What business structure does my business operate in?
  • What are the assets and liabilities in my business? Who owns them?
  • What is the goodwill and intellectual property in my business? Who owns them?
  • How big is my business?
  • Who can run my business if I am not around?
  • Do I have any processes or procedures for my employees to follow, so that if something happens they can act “automatically”?
  • If I were to sell my business, do I have a handover strategy?

If anything, see your business coach, accountant, or lawyer – they can certainly help you out in relation to identifying these issues and assisting you with your business succession plan.

A good succession plan enables a smooth transition with less likelihood of disruption to operations. By planning your exit well in advance you can maximise the value of your business and enable it to meet future needs.

The New Personal Property Securities Register

The Australian Government has been planning for some time now to commence personal property securities reform and has begun part one of that process by introducing the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth).

Part two involves the implementation of a national Personal Property Security Register, and this is due to commence in October 2011.

Personal property is any property other than land, buildings, or fixtures, that form part of that land. Personal property can be items such as cars, machinery, crops, or stock – it can also include intellectual property, invoices that have yet to be paid, or rights under a contract.

Personal Property Security is where a party secures an interest in personal property as a security in matters such as the provision of finance or the provision of credit.

Every Australian State currently has a number of registers dealing with personal property securities. For example, New South Wales has the following registers:

  • Register of Encumbered Vehicles (REVS NSW)
  • Security Interest of Goods Register
  • Register of Co-operative Charges

The numerous amounts of registers currently operating throughout the country is why the Australian Government has reformed the system to steamline how Personal Property Securities are registered. The National Personal Property Security Register will also be on-line and will comprise of the combination of existing registers throughout the country. As expected, this is a massive effort.

More details about the new Personal Property Security Register may be found at http://www.ppsr.gov.au/www/ppsr/ppsr.nsf/Page/About_PPS.

What this will mean is that it will protentially be much easier for you to record an interest in personal property that your client has offered up to you as security in exchange for your services.

More updates to follow once the register has been implemented.