Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2013 | Page 60

By Eddy Goldberg

Protect
Your Assets!
When you got something,

Y

you got something to lose

ou’ve worked hard, sacrificed time with the family to build for their future, and
you’ve put together a tidy nest egg. Of course you have all your business affairs in
order, so no worries, right? Umm, right?

Could it be you’ve overlooked some critical detail over the years? When was the last time

you reviewed those “boring” legal and financial documents—you know, the ones intended
to ensure that you keep your money and pass it on to your heirs, instead of Uncle Sam? Did
a law, regulation, or tax rule change while you were busy building your franchise empire?
What happens when your franchise agreement or a lease comes up for renewal? Has technology made you vulnerable in ways you never imagined?
“When a lot of us started, we were
young, naïve business people and didn’t
pay as much attention as our lawyers and
accountants told us,” says Gary Robins,
who operates 40 Supercuts and 1 Cost
Cutters hair salons. “But as your company becomes larger and larger, you don’t
get to follow the rules less; you have to
follow them more—because there’s a
lot more at risk if a mistake happens.”
For Grant Simon, with 40 units in
the Atlanta area, asset protection means
“protecting my assets and equity within
my business entities, as well as personally,
against losses.” He also says this wasn’t
as important to him when he was starting out as it is today.
At that time, he says, “You don’t care
what kind of personal guarantees they
ask for, you just want to get the money
to grow.” Besides, he says, “A personal
guarantee wasn’t worth much anyway

58

Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue II, 2013

at that stage, so you give it to them.”
That all changed with success. “Sometimes you don’t know whether to focus
on growing or protecting your assets.
You’ve reached a certain stage of asset
accumulation or comfort, and you want
to protect it,” says Simon, whose assets
today include 28 Great Clips salons, 11
T-Mobile stores, and a Smoothie King
in the Atlanta area, as well as real estate.
The basics

Gary Robins

So what are the basic components of asset
protection? Franchisee attorney Gerald
(Jerry) Marks, with Marks & Klein LLP
in Red Bank, N.J., lists four major areas:
1) entity separation, 2) disability and
life insurance, 3) estate planning, and 4)
succession planning. “I do a lot of estate
planning, and really, asset protection is
part of estate planning, and part of estate
planning is asset protection.”