For nearly two decades, The Southern California Institute has been a Thought Leader Community serving professional advisors and the families they wish to impact.

The common link is a desire to thrive beyond the status quo of what’s known to be available. It’s a fundamental belief that more is out there, and if it isn’t we’ll create it together. That’s why we call it Care to Know.

In our Care to Know model, we own curiosity as our first reaction. How can the advisory community do better for the families we serve and the firms we’re building?  How can resources and collaboration enhance the value of support?

The heart of our model is helping people master collaboration itself as a craft. We define collaboration as the art and science of how people work together to create better outcomes. It’s a process of celebrating different perspectives, disciplines and resources to thereby enhance the value of the work at hand.

In our community, participants find themselves receiving and contributing in unanticipated ways. They often remark that there’s liberation in the power of We. This We-driven mindset sets a transformation in motion. With our community as your resource, you don’t have to master the answer to every quandary. Instead you become courageously armed with the right questions, and a think tank of best-in-class professionals equipped with the answers.
www.SCInstitute.org

At some point in the natural life cycle of a closely-held company, self-made entrepreneurs find themselves contemplating what’s next. For many, there’s a two-way magnet in play. The business has been central to their lives, and it is human nature to be drawn to what’s known and proven. Yet the magnet also pulls toward possibilities: what if they wish to slow the pace?

When entrepreneurs are referred to us, many of the conversations they’ve had already have not addressed the design of the transition itself. The topic has been prematurely narrowed: keep versus sell. The business owner wants to do something, but no one has helped them navigate the tributaries and ramifications of their potential choices. Also, they dread the day they’ll receive a lofty list of recommendations, lacking the external leadership to implement.

In our Care to Know model, planning begins with helping you figure out where you are. For many, the greatest potential lies in transitioning from a Wisdom-driven Business which generates cash flow to fund livelihoods, to a Value-driven Business. Value-driven Businesses increase your options by systematizing the magic you’ve applied to creating success up to this point. They command stability for internal transitions, as well as the highest market value if owners decide to sell.

We begin with thorough diagnostics. First comes a true valuation process conducted by our credentialed valuation professionals. This offers a realistic picture of your company’s value from a buyer’s perspective. Second, we conduct assessments in two distinct areas: attractiveness and readiness. These diagnostics solidly benchmark your starting point.

Now, we’re poised to create your Value-driven Business. We move into strategic and tactical planning, conducting full-day clarity and consensus-building sessions with you and your key lieutenants.

One of the most common reasons business transitions derail is what we call Expectation Gaps. These are blind spots and pot holes that, once revealed, prevent a business owner from confidently executing their plan. When the full team has clarity and agreement around the Expectation Gaps, momentum drives us to the next phase. We identify and prioritize Enhancement Initiatives: facilitated 90-day sprints that directly increase the value of your business. Importantly, we implement together, working closely with you and your key people to achieve aspired results.

By driving for increase in value, we expand your choices. Those who decide to keep the business find that the Enhancements that increase value likewise improve workplace dynamics and drive cash flow. For those who choose to transition the business internally, the Enhancements stabilize the company to thrive financially during and after the transition.

Ultimately, Care to Know reminds you that you have a choice to gear up or back away. If the choice is to gear up for sale, our model helps you navigate choices around internal versus external, and in whole or in part. It helps ensure you sell at the prime time and for the highest value. Many of our clients remark that our model converted their murky fear of the unknown to a cathartic sense of clarity. They find that the relationship itself gives them a place to think.
www.FoundersGroup.biz

At Strazzeri Mancini, we observe a troublesome trend encountered by affluent families who wish to plan. In our experience, traditional planning can inadvertently narrow planning conversations too quickly. It’s a slippery slope in which the formulation of the problem – the power of the questioning phase – has become a lost art.

The result is that the client winds up with a solution that doesn’t actually solve their full and true problem, or a solution that Band-Aids a symptom. In both scenarios, the problem will present again in the future.

That’s why we developed a model called Care to Know. Families often come to us with a point of pain they want to address. However, the point of awareness rarely speaks to the full spectrum of the issue. In order to design the best outcome, we need to learn what’s happening to the left and right of the symptoms.

Care to Know means that we own curiosity as our first reaction. We listen without preconceived notions. We invite all of the things you knew you needed to discuss into the conversations. Then we draw forth additional themes that matter equally, but that you wouldn’t know to share if we didn’t ask. Over time, clients remark that our relationship becomes a place to reliably broaden their perspective and get to the heart of highly relevant matters. They often refer to the relationship itself as a place to think.

At the end of the day, we protect families, assets and relationships. Our Care to Know model celebrates the inherent magic of nuance that exists between individuals as they navigate life and business. We design plans that are simple, elegant and understandable. Then, we help you implement. Your plan will be reflective of you and your important life principles; an imprint of your greatest clarity and most authentic self.
www.StrazzeriMancini.com