"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."
Arthur Schopenhauer
Business Planning | People
At I. M. Financial, we view the many facets of business planning through four primary lenses: (1) Organization & Governance; (2) People; (3) Growth, Proceess & KPI; and (4) and Exit Planning. The work within each of these categories has endless overlap and interplay. Across the spectrum of business planning needs and throughout the growth cycle, the separation of work between I. M. Financial team members, your internal teams, and each of our partners will vary. Still, we find it helpful to organize our own and our clients' thinking about key business factors in this way.
Key Considerations for "People" Planning:
- Develop creative, thoughftul, and efficient incentive plans & retention, and attraction packages for the people who take care of you and your business.
- Thoughtfully build your team and acquire the right talent for your organization.
- Protect and compensate key executives.
- Understand how the right structures, agreements, and solutions for key executives and employees are key to your ability to plan for continuation and succession.
- Generate awareness around transferability to unlock the growing value in your business.
- Learn how to deploy your team to accelerate the development of transferrable value within the entity itself; owners' roles shold shift to become more passive toward operations as the organization matures.
- Consider what makes the right people want to stay.
- Competitive Benefits Programs
- Company Benefits and Culture
- Design your team (and its incentives) in alignment with your own unique community- and personal values-based goals.
- Execute strategies to promote innovation and develop legacy.
- Establish a sense of security that you always know what the company and its owners will do when the unexpected happens.

Organization & Governance
Upgrade your business's foundation to make sure your ownership team is structured securely and efficiently.

Growth, Process, KPI
Create and grow real transferrable value. Ensure that everyone is steering in the same direction.

Exit Planning
Know where you're going. Understand your options in the marketplace.
Optimize your business leading up to a sale or transfer aligned with your intended exit strategy.