Business Succession & Closely-Held Entities
The business you have built deserves a thoughtful next chapter.
For most family business owners, the company is not just an asset — it represents decades of work, relationships, and identity. Sheri helps owners plan transitions that protect the business, the family around it, and the people who depend on both.
(401) 600-0146·No pressure. No paperwork to bring. Just a first conversation.
What families often feel
Owners often carry these questions for years.
Business succession is rarely urgent until it suddenly is. Most owners we meet have been quietly turning these questions over long before they reach out.
“I've built this for thirty years. I don't want it to fall apart when I step away.”
“Some of my children want to be involved. Others don't. How do I be fair?”
“My spouse depends on this business. I need to know they'll be cared for.”
“I have a partner. We've never really talked about what happens if one of us is gone.”
“I'm not ready to sell — I just want a plan in place.”
“I want to protect the employees who've helped me build this.”
Succession planning isn’t about stepping away. It’s about giving yourself — and everyone who depends on the business — a steadier future to step into.
The quiet structure behind a strong transition
What thoughtful business succession actually involves.
Good succession planning weaves together the business itself, the family around it, and the personal estate plan that surrounds them both. Sheri helps owners see all three at once.
Buy-sell agreements
Clear, current agreements between owners that quietly answer the hardest questions — what happens at death, disability, retirement, or disagreement — before they become disputes.
Ownership & governance structures
Thoughtful entity choice, operating agreements, and voting structures that keep decision-making clear as the next generation steps in.
Family transition planning
Honest planning for the children who want to be involved, the ones who don't, and how to be fair to all of them — without quietly breaking the business or the family.
Sale & third-party transition planning
When the right answer is selling to a key employee, a partner, or an outside buyer, Sheri helps structure the transition so the owner and family are genuinely protected.
Coordinating with the personal estate plan
The business is often the largest asset in an estate. Sheri makes sure wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, and the business plan all move in the same direction.
Tax-aware long-term planning
Working alongside accountants and financial advisors so transitions are structured with an eye on income, gift, and estate tax — not just legal mechanics.
How Sheri helps business owners plan
Steady, long-horizon planning — built around the owner, not the deal.
Succession is not a transaction. It is a slow, important shift. Sheri helps owners think about it the way they think about the business itself: carefully, and over time.
She starts with the owner, not the company.
What do you actually want the next chapter to look like? When do you want to start stepping back? Who do you want involved? The plan follows from the answers — not the other way around.
She balances the business and the family.
Most succession plans live or die on family dynamics. Sheri helps owners make decisions that are fair, defensible, and respectful of every child — whether they're in the business or not.
She coordinates with your other advisors.
Accountants, financial advisors, business consultants — Sheri works alongside the team you've already trusted, instead of asking you to start over.
She stays involved as the transition unfolds.
Succession rarely happens in one signing. Sheri stays a familiar voice your family can call as the plan moves through real life, year by year.
How planning unfolds
Three thoughtful steps, on a long horizon.
The strongest succession plans are built over years, not weeks. The first step is simply giving yourself permission to start with a conversation.
An honest first conversation
What you've built, where you'd like it to go, and what would feel like a successful transition for you and your family.
Map the business & the family
Together we look at the ownership, the leadership, the family roles, and the personal estate plan — and where each piece needs attention.
Build the plan, layer by layer
Buy-sell agreements, governance documents, trust structures, and estate coordination — drafted in plain language and revisited as the years move.
My partner and I had put off succession planning for years. Sheri made the conversation feel manageable instead of overwhelming. We now have something in place that protects both of our families — and the business we built together.
Buy-sell agreement & succession planning
Educational resource
A Quiet Guide to Business Succession
A plain-language overview Sheri shares with owners before their first meeting — the questions worth answering early, the conversations worth having with family, and the structures that make a steady transition possible.
- What a strong buy-sell agreement actually does — and why most are outdated
- How to think about children who are in the business vs. those who aren't
- When a trust should own business interests — and when it shouldn't
- How to plan for disability, not just death or retirement
- How to coordinate with key employees in a transition
- Common tax pitfalls in family business transfers
Common questions families ask
Honest answers, in plain language.
When you’re ready
Plan the next chapter the way you built the business.
Sheri will listen first, ask a few honest questions about what you have built, and help you take the next thoughtful step toward a transition that protects everyone involved, with no pressure and no obligation.
Unhurried. Always confidential.