He liked being busy, involved, and in charge. He bought another farm for himself and became a "gentleman farmer" that raised prize angus cattle. He built a farm machinery dealership that sold tractors, wagons and all the huge machinery you can imagine parked next to the barn. He had other resources, so he started a loan company that catered to farmers. A nice lateral integration for someone who sold farm supplies and bought and sold farms himself.

A lot of that happened before I can remember. What I can remember is this. He had a falling out with the local feed store.

Farmers including him had to buy grain and other feed from Agway for the cattle. Malone was then, and still is today, a farming community. The feed store is major business, and Agway was the only game in town. What they actually did that caused the feud, I don’t know. What I do know is that my grandfather, started by taking feed orders from his peers, and buying grain by the ton in the mid-west. When he had enough orders for a train car he’d have the grain shipped and then hire a couple of guys in Malone to unload and deliver it here and there. My grandfather took a small profit.

Timing is everything, he had the touch and the business took off. Soon he had a grain mill of his own in Malone, his own rail siding, employees, supervisors, departments…..a pretty substantial business by anyone’s standards. I remember whole trains backing up next to the mill to unload.

He brought his youngest son into the business.

Looking back at it, my Grandfather brought Uncle Robert into the business for what I suspect is the typical motivation. It’s a lot of reasons, but mostly it was the whole legacy thing…to pass the business on someday. However as it turned out, having my Uncle Robert involved allowed my Grandfather to enjoy the fruits of his labors. He traveled some, took on a hobby and wasn’t the first to arrive at the business every morning or the last to leave every night. That became my Uncle Robert’s job.

Uncle Robert was in training. My Grandfather was teaching him the business. You know….this is what you need to do, Robert – this is how we do it – here try it - see how you do. Uncle Robert developed and my Grandfather over time gave him more and more to do.

My Grandfather died one February at 72. He was here, and the next thing I remember was having a new suit, and him in his casket. He had an aneurysm that exploded without warning….one moment he was here, apparently healthy, and the next he was gone.

Unless you come from a farming background, I suspect you missed the significance when I said, that my Grandfather died in February. You see by February, the local farmers were into the business’ account receivables. It was a long way till harvest when farmers pay off their bills. The accounts receivable balance only grew winter, spring and summer for a business that supplied the farmers in northern New York.

On paper he was worth a fortune…in reality it was quite a different matter.

You’ll remember my Grandfather liked being busy, involved and in charge. Uncle Robert was learning to manage parts of the business, but my Grandfather wasn’t planning on dying quite so soon…he wasn’t teaching anyone how to own the business. Besides I don’t think that he thought that Uncle Robert was quite ready to take over…maybe more to the point my Grandfather was having too much fun with his baby "the business," to turn it over to anyone.

When he died his affairs were as usual…in process. The wills/trusts/corp. charters/agreements were out of date, but he had them under review for change. He was always buying or selling something and the business was growing by leaps and bounds….I think he tried, but keeping the paperwork straight wasn’t as much fun as other activities.

When he died there wasn’t a lot of cash…he wasn’t the type to keep a lot of money in the bank. His money and his assets were leveraged - working for him in the business, farms he owned, loans he’d made, and investments of one kind or another. My Grandfather was driven, an entrepreneur, money and wealth were a by-product of the deal….a way of continuing the game or keeping score.

At this point, you probably think I’m going to talk about: better financial planning; maybe about having enough life insurance to cover transitioning the business; how to develop the next generation; succession planning and business cycles; or maybe just keeping the wills up to date…..they are all valid considerations but I’m not talking about them, because my story continues.

My uncle proved to be good at collecting the accounts receivable. No one could stay mad at my Uncle Robert for long. I can still see his smile – it is how I remember him, and it was disarming.

There wasn’t any succession plan. Uncle Robert got his father’s business almost by default….his siblings didn’t want it. I’m not even sure that he wanted it in the beginning. He was a success in his own right, just as his siblings were at the peak of their careers, when my Grandfather died. Don’t get me wrong…I suspect that each of his siblings wanted their inheritance – they just didn’t want to run the business.

As things turned out my Uncle Robert was even better at running the business than my Grandfather. In time, he turned his homestead, the dairy farm, over to his oldest son and the youngest son came into the feed business.

Farming and the business climate in northern New York changed, as it did throughout the country. There were challenges and he mastered them all. Trains stopped coming to Malone, so he birthed a trucking operation to protect his supply of grain from the mid-west. Free trade enabled the business to market successfully across the border. It’s safe to say the business flourished under his management.

In his late 50’s and early 60’s Uncle Robert began to enjoy the fruits of having a successful business. He traveled for months at a time. He established a stable of race horses. Built a big house on the hill that looked over the family farms and out the living room window you can see the ships on the St. Lawrence seaway some 30 miles away.

Even with Uncle Robert enjoying life the business did very well. Uncle Robert had his youngest son in training. He was teaching him the business. You know….this is what you need to do – this is how we do it – here try it - see how you do. Uncle Robert’s youngest son developed and over time he was given more and more to do.

Then my Uncle Robert was diagnosed with cancer.

The diagnosis caused him to think about the business in ways his father hadn’t….he thought about the business after he was gone. His youngest son was learning to manage parts of the business, but my Uncle wasn’t planning on dying quite so soon…so he hadn’t taught anyone how to own the business. Maybe more to the point, my Uncle Robert had too much fun with his baby "the business," to think about his legacy.

Dying of cancer, Uncle Robert looked at things differently. He decided that his first son, the one running the homestead farm, was best suited to own the business. His youngest son, the one that everyone had assumed would take over, just wasn’t capable.

My guess a gut wrenching decision, certainly a decision with impact even unto today, decades later. I believe that Uncle Robert’s decision was what he believed was best. However, I can’t believe that Uncle Robert wanted to die: with the business in turmoil; family members taking sides; one son not talking to the other; some boycotting the funeral; but most important his grandchildren remembering him, not for the way he lived, but the mess that became his legacy.

Consider this, Uncle Robert died quite sometime ago.

We now know that his oldest son is gifted running the feed mill. He’s vertically integrated a number of times – not all the grain comes from the mid-west anymore – he grows a lot of it locally. He put the other feed mill (Agway) out of business in Malone, now he owns their building. It’s a garden/pet shop, another of his business ventures.

Uncle Robert’s youngest son left the business when his father passed him over. Obviously a surprise to his father, but the youngest son turned out to be a very successful entrepreneur on his own. Timing is everything, it turns out that he has the touch and from nothing the business he started has taken off. Soon he had a trucking operation of his own in Malone, with employees, supervisors, departments…..a pretty substantial business by anyone’s standards. I’m sure that he would have made my Grandfather, and his, proud.

That’s as much of the story that I’m going to tell you now.

I could fill pages of bullet items….lessons to be learned, but I won’t. I suspect that you’ve identified some lessons from my family history as well.

However as I said in the beginning I think that most really good consultants are part Tom Sawyer….the difference is that my fence is already painted and the fence that I’m trying to get painted, is yours.

Here’s what you might want to take away from the story – not a moral or anything – but something to consider – maybe the part of your fence that needs painting.

History really is prolog. Consciously or not – right or wrong - your behavior is the model for the next generation. I can’t believe my relatives made the same mistakes on purpose…you don’t either. What’s more important than developing the next generation? Wouldn’t they benefit from having a developmental plan – a road map of experiences, training programs, and responsibilities designed to support their success?

A mistake is more than just an oops!   Eternity is a long time…who wants to be remembered for a mistake, and one of business transition at that!  Hindsight is 20/20, it’s clear now that my Uncle Robert made the wrong decision. Both his sons were capable business people, and with help he could have found a solution that would have brought the family together not pulled it apart.

Probably even when you know what you want, having someone facilitate the conversation is best. It reduces risk. If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, your kids are in a different galaxy. There is a lifetime of baggage that comes with developing a shared vision of the future. A history that makes the task invariably more difficult for you…but not for us.

Succession is a process, it’s likely to fail when it becomes an event. Although, my relatives were successful business people they made a mess of their legacy. Either they didn’t plan or they didn’t plan well. They saw the transition as an event not an on-going process. They didn’t develop a shared vision, revisit the strategy and tactics, nor take the time to get all the family members understanding and working toward the same goal.

Benefit from my story. If your fence needs work – call us, we’ll help you to get it done!