As a business owner, you no doubt have a great passion for what you do and take pride in what you’ve built up over the years.

When you love what you do and have turned it into a thriving business, this soon becomes a major part of your life: much more than a job, more than an income stream. For that reason, most owners plan to keep operating and developing their business for years to come. They are building an asset that can potentially take on a life of its own, but also demands a lot from the owner.

And just as life is unpredictable, with many significant events (i.e. births, deaths, illnesses, marriages, divorce, etc.) that can blindside even the best laid plans, a business can also be affected by these factors. You can also throw into the mix all the economic, business relationship and employment pressures that you face every day in business.

A recent* survey showed that only 61% of small business owners had taken steps to protect their personal, family and business assets from these trigger events.

So, for the remaining 39% of business owners – and also those in the 61% that have only partially considered the risks – it is a discussion worth having to learn how you can protect yourself, your business and everything that you’ve worked so hard for.

Rather than simply hoping for the best, there are some simple steps that you can take to ensure that your business and personal assets are protected.

Putting in place the right legal structures, documented agreements and contingency plans are all steps towards protecting yourself in case of these events. As the saying goes; ‘hope for the best, plan for the worst’. With our assistance you can be confident in the knowledge that you have things covered.

*Survey of 181 Australian and New Zealand SMEs in the period 1 January to 21 June 2019.