Oversight #1: Personal Financial Plan is an Afterthought

Business owners plan judiciously for their business. They constantly review strategy, revenue and expense forecasts, hiring roadmaps, and impact goals. But when asked about their personal financial plan – cash flow, taxes, estate, and risk management, we often find pieces missing. The business is not a substitute for a personal financial plan. It may be your largest asset, but it’s also illiquid, concentrated, and subject to risks that may not be in your control. A financial plan built around your personal financial goals, not just your business, is entirely different.

Oversight #2: Succession Planning – What Happens When You Exit

This one is specific to the B Corp, 1% community, and values-based mission driven businesses and it doesn’t get talked about enough. When you eventually sell, transition, or step back from your business — what happens to the certification? What happens to the giving pledge? What happens to the value-based mission of the company? Most exits are structured around financial terms. The mission continuity piece is an afterthought, if it’s addressed at all.

Succession planning for a values-driven business owner involves more than choosing a successor or setting a valuation. It involves thinking through how the commitments you’ve built into the business survive the transition, and whether your personal estate plan reflects those same values on the other side.

Oversight #3: Strategic Giving/Gifting – Efficiency Matters

The “how” of giving matters as much as the that you give, and your options should be explored. As a business owner, you are in a unique position. The treatment of giving through the business varies based on your corporate legal structure, as well as the purpose of that giving. As an individual, giving directly from personal income also varies based the method of that giving – for example, using a Donor Advised Fund or via direct.

In some cases, restructuring the timing or mechanism of your contributions can allow you to give more without increasing your out-of-pocket cost.

Oversight #4: Does Your Personal Portfolio Align With What You’ve Built

You have built a values-driven enterprise and may even have gone through the rigors of becoming a BCorp. Furthermore, you may have committed a percentage of your revenue to environmental causes. You wake up every day trying to run a business that is a force for good. But what’s going on with your personal investment portfolio? Is it sitting in a conventional fund lineup – one that has no idea what you stand for?

It’s simply worth asking: have you considered not only your personal financial goals and risk tolerance, but also if the wealth you are building is being invested in a way that is consistent with your personal values.

A Question Worth Asking

These oversights are common, but they do not reflect a failure of values. They reflect the reality that building a purposeful business takes everything you have. But at some point, the person behind the business deserves the same intentionality the business gets. That’s where aligning with partners who understand that can help match your personal values with your business values.