Kay Vogt on the benefits to business owners, family businesses and others from the programs she has been trained in by the Successful Transition Planning Institute.

In this video clip, Gerald Chertavian expresses his passion for fundraising and gratitude to those who have contributed significant capital to Year Up. Gerald also provides words of wisdom about how to find your passion. He calls it “looking back in order to look clearly forward.” You also get a glimpse of how his entrepreneurial…

After the software business sold, Chertavian listened to valuable advise from his father and father-in-law; he took several months to plan his next step, considering his recently acquired wealth and relative youth. At age 35, he was encouraged by his father and father-in-law to be smart about his next choices and wealth planning. Once his…

Chertavian started his career on Wall Street, working for a commercial bank. He also volunteered as a Big Brother during this time. Looking back, he considers working with Big Brother a life changing experience, seeding his vision for Year Up. Soon after attending Harvard Business School, he co-founded a software company. The company thrived, opening…

In this video, Schawbel asserts that planning for the future is a primary component of successful entrepreneurship, a process he employs in both his nonprofit and for-profit efforts. Schawbel plans to continue making a difference in this world indefinitely, in philanthropy and business. Dedication and perseverance, with good planning, has served Schawbel well, from college…

Bill Schawbel has a deep bench of trusted advisors, both internally and externally. As a life-long learner, Schawbel emphasizes the importance of being open-minded to the feedback and perspective advisors provide. The key here, he remarks, is relationship. Schawbel has developed many long-term relationships, which bring him confidence. Bill “indulges” himself in meetings with distributors,…

Bill Schawbel, CEO of Schawbel Corporation for the last 30 years, always had a knack for philanthropy. His story demonstrates how entrepreneurs can make a difference in their business while making a difference in the world at the same time. From his childhood, Bill has understood how to give back. Bill’s story is remarkable; it…

Alper was unsure of his exit strategy. Like most owner/CEOs, he had never planned one before. Many unanticipated events were happening at once. Alper openly touches on the emotional toll and pressure he felt from selling the 3rd generation family business to a non-family buyer. Fred felt lost, unsure what to do with his shares…

At first Alper felt comfortable leaving the company to his successor. Both men had the common vision for maintaining the culture of the company. Initially Alper continued in a supporting role to the new CEO, which he later realized was a mistake. Alper candidly talks about this misstep and how he would step completely away…

Fred Alper, Chairman of 22 years at Morris Alper Inc., tells us about the origin of the business, which his grandfather started as Morris Alper & Sons. The food brokerage company rapidly grew into a business selling branded items. When Fred Alper entered the company in 1970, he helped build the business by bringing in…

As the deal unfolded, it became clear that the buyer of Vanguard Sailboats was not on the same page as Chip. The transaction experience extracted an emotional toll on Chip – managing both the business and the sales process was a challenge. The emotional roller coaster proved to be stressful, but persistence and patience were…

A stable history at Vanguard Sailboats made the company credible. In this video, Chip outlines the unsolicited offer to buy his business and a plan to sell that took nearly a year to perfect. Chip describes how his plan to sell the business had to be tweaked along the way due to complexities in the…

As President and CEO of Vanguard Sailboats, Chip John talks about what sparked his passion for sailboats and his inspiration to get into the sailboat building industry. Chip has a compelling story of disciplined rapid growth and dealing with an acquisition and merger with his biggest competitor, which sparked a 3-fold revenues growth which helped…

A key factor in the process of selling a business is letting go. Comer talks candidly about the emotions he encountered when leaving the company he had been part of for many years. Sometime after the transaction was complete, it became clear that the company was in danger. Reluctantly, Kevin offered to come back as…

As Kevin approached his 60’s, he decided he was ready to move out of the company. His first line of inquiry was about “when and how” the process should start. Comer realized that the planning process of selling a business must be very intricate and complex. Rather than settling on the first offer, the company…