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Published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on April 19, 2000. All rights reserved.
Stark’s Six Deadly Business Sins
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At the top of Allen M. Silk’s list of the “Six
Deadly Sins” for business is dumping all your life’s savings into
your business. “That’s like investing in one stock,” says
Silk, an attorney for Stark & Stark. “Then the business starts
to take a bad turn, and all your eggs are in one basket.”
Planning ahead and protecting your finances are the heart of Silk’s
seminar, entitled, “The Six Business Killers,” on Wednesday,
April 26, at 4 p.m. at the office at 993 Lenox Drive. It is part of
a business succession and estate planning forum entitled “Strategies
and Solutions for Today’s Business Owner.” It continues on Wednesday,
May 24, with a discussion of proper titling of assets and funding
succession plans. On June 28 the topics include the irrevocable life
insurance trust, annual exclusion gifts, unified credit gifts, and
the private split dollar. Topics for the fall include buy-sell agreements,
deferred compensation, and qualified plan distributions. For free
reservations call Rosanne Scassero at 609-895-7307 or E-mail:
Silk majored in accounting at Penn (Class of 1969) and has law degrees
from Villanova and New York University. He is a member of the estate
and gift tax committee on business planning of the American Bar Association.
He works with closely held business organizations — their initial
structuring, their succession planning, and the transfer of ownership
to other parties.
Not only do small business owners make the mistake of not diversifying
their assets, some leave too many loose ends in relation to business
partners and, in the case of family businesses, successors, says Silk.
If a buy-sell agreement becomes outdated, for example, and there’s
an unexpected death, the business could be sold out from underneath
the partner for a fraction of what it’s worth. Likewise, a business
could die out if a successor is not named.
Silk’s advice for small business owners:
Don’t put all your money into your business. Diversify.Borrow more. Invest outside of the company.Update your buy-sell agreement annually. “If there’sa premature death, and they’re dealing with a document that’s 15 yearsold, the company is not at the same value,” he says. “Lawsuits begin at that point.”Have an appraiser value your company. “Many peoplejust put a dollar amount on the company because it was worth verylittle when they entered into the contract with the partner,”says Silk.Groom a successor early on. “It’s the old story ofthe father coming to the son and saying I want you take over the business,and he doesn’t want to do it,” he says. “People wait a longtime when there’s a child or successor to be groomed, and they waituntil it’s too late. Or a parent who is running the business neverchooses the successor and it creates a war in the company.”Procrastination still remains one of the biggest business killers,says Silk. “People believe they really can’t plan because theIRS changes their rules,” he says. “The IRS doesn’t want youto plan because as a default all the money goes to them. If there’sa premature death, the IRS or state of New Jersey gets the lion’sshare of the assets.”Top Of PageRenaissance RxA 16th century doctor named Paracelsus, an early pharmaceuticalpioneer, will be featured in a lecture “Renaissance Pharmacy”to be presented by a 90-year-old historian, David L. Cowen,on Wednesday, April 26, at 4:30 p.m., at 675 Hoes Lane West in Piscataway.A Rutgers professor emeritus in the history of medicine and pharmacy,Cowen is a Rutgers alumnus (Class of 1930) who has written more than100 articles and several books. An annual lecture was establishedby the Rutgers’ College of Pharmacy in 1989 to honor Cowen and thisyear he will deliver that lecture himself. Following the lecture therewill be a reception and dinner. For reservations call 732-445-2675,extension 605.Paracelsus revolutionized the field of pharmacy by working primarilywith chemically created compounds rather than plants. Also to be coveredin the lecture: pharmaceutical therapies, the myths of pharmacy, artifactsand tools of the trade, and pharmacy shops during the 15th and 16thcenturies.During that period the “Einhorn” or unicorn was a prominentfigure. “The unicorn and its horn are still a symbol for a goodnumber of pharmacy shops in Germany today,” says Cowen. “Thehorn was said to be ground into a powder and used as a prime remedyfor almost every circumstance.”Top Of PageBusiness in AsiaLearn how to do business in Japan, Korea, and Taiwanat a half-day seminar on Thursday, April 27, 9:30 a.m. to noon inthe administration building at Mercer County College. The event issponsored in partnership with the state office of international tradeand the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.Jose Gomez-Rivera III, acting director of the state office ofinternational trade and protocol, will give the keynote address. Tradingwith Japan is the topic for Don K. Ueyama, senior trade advisorof Japan’s external trade organizations. Oh Suk Kwon of theKorea Trade Investment Promotion Agency and Bruce Fuh, of theTaiwan Economic and Cultural Office will also talk about trading opportunities.Cost: $20. Call 609-890-9624 (www.njbia.org).Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
