Do You Have a Board of Directors For Your Small Business?

May 30, 2025 | AgFocus-Ag Focus | BusinessFocus-Business Focus

Every successful small business needs more than a great product or service—it needs a trusted team of advisors. Your accountant, attorney, financial planner, and market expert are essential, but so is your banker. As your financial partner, we don’t just provide loans—we help you make strategic decisions that protect your operation and position your business for long-term success. When your advisory team understands your goals, they can help turn your vision into reality.

 

Team of Pros

By: Lee Potts | Vice President/Senior Credit Officer

For those that followed the recent NFL draft, it is always interesting to see how the draft unfolds. Every year, teams pick certain players that they feel are a good fit for their goals and are likely to help the team move forward in the future. It is no different for farm operations and local community businesses. While the team of professionals you pick may not happen annually, it is still extremely important to get the right professionals on your team to help your farm or business move closer to its goals, whatever those may be.

As you have heard us mention in the past, you are the business owner and therefore you are in the driver’s seat to lead your professional team in such a way that they help you realize your goals. We can use the topic of succession planning as an example. Remember succession planning and estate planning are two different things, as sometimes we find that the two are confused or meshed. Succession planning is mapping out what happens as the prior generation leaves the business over time.

Estate planning is mapping out what happens after the prior generation leaves this world. Your team of professionals may include an accountant, attorney, banker, financial planner, and in the cases of farming, sometimes a market expert. Each of these team members may have different perspectives and have varying views of pros and cons based on their area of expertise. It’s the team’s job to filter through these things and help you, the business owner, to arrive at a plan that fully aligns with your goals and plans. Here are some good questions to address prior to and during meetings.

  • Provide a clear understanding of your business including history, current structure and financial standing, and future goals or aspirations.
  •  Define what success looks like in the future. What does success look like for the outgoing generation?
  • What does success look like for the incoming generation? What about the next generation after that?
  • What are the variables? Strengths? Weaknesses to improve upon? Opportunities? Threats?
  • What type of business structure is optimal based on the above points?
  • Once the above things are defined, what are the key courses of action to take to put a plan in motion?
  • Who is responsible for each step? What is the deadline for each step?
  • Set target dates.
  • Communicate regularly with the team and have regular follow-ups.

Once you have identified the first three or four points above and you let the team of professionals begin discussing their part of the process, the magic starts to happen. We have witnessed that magic firsthand and it is remarkable how things come together when everyone is operating from a point of clarity.

Also remember that once a plan is established, things can change, so sometimes farm and business owners may have to adapt the plan accordingly. This is where your professional team comes in again when necessary. Our lending team at Security Bank and our insurance and investment team at Security Wealth Strategies are ready to help you facilitate a professional team member draft of your own! Having a great team doesn’t guarantee winning a Super Bowl, but it sure increases the chances! Our role is to then provide insight to the team from a financial point of view. In short, what can you, the owner, and/or the business, afford and not afford? The other team members will be able to provide their insight as well. Another tool in our toolbox is the Land As Your Legacy program!

It is never too early to begin the succession planning process! In fact, often we find that the earlier, the better. Reach out to our team of professionals right away to get started!