Good Intentions, Empty Promises

Neal Furlong, ChFC^®, CEPA^®, CLU^®
Senior Wealth Advisor

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As a business owner, your employees put added stock into the things you say, how you say them, and when you say them. This is why it’s extremely important to avoid making empty promises based on good intentions.   

Let’s look at some ways that you can position yourself to minimize communication risks within your business.  

Write Everything Down 

Business plans, exit plans, incentive plans: if you have a plan to do something, it’s best to put it in writing for several reasons.  

First, writing things down can help you standardize. Whether it’s a goal you’re pursuing, a development plan for an employee, or something else, having it in writing can help ensure that everyone is singing from the same songbook. 

Second, writing things down can protect you against bad actors. Though we all want to believe that employees, vendors, and even competitors will always try to do the right thing, in reality, that’s not always the case. Having receipts that show what you are trying to do and how you intend to do it, and create a running tally of how you got from Point A to Point B can help protect you against bad actors. 

Finally, putting things in writing makes it much more difficult for people to interpret them incorrectly.   

In the context of Exit Planning, this can be important in determining whether your business exit is successful. A written plan not only guides your strategies toward a successful exit but also helps protect you against claims that other people might make about your business. 

For example, you may have told one of your children that you intend to sell the business to them when the time comes. But over the years, you may have found that that child is too irresponsible or untalented to take over the business in ways that would ensure your financial security and successful exit from the business.  

A written plan stating how you want to transfer your ownership can help protect you if that child were to try to claim that you promised them something that you had no intention of delivering on. 

Avoid Trying to Please Everyone 

Business owners are human beings, and many of them want their employees to like them. However, there is such a thing as being too conscientious to employees.  

For instance, imagine that your best employee has become disgruntled because he doesn’t feel that you’re acknowledging his contributions enough. In this case, it may be tempting to flatter this employee with promises of professional growth, higher salaries, and other career development opportunities—if only to get him to stop complaining.  

But in a world where everyone is watching everyone and everyone is recording everything, this can put you in harm’s way.  

Sometimes, the hardest thing about owning a business is telling the people who help you make the business successful that they’re wrong, that they’re irrational, or that their expectations don’t align with the company’s mission. A failure to be realistic could have long-term effects on your business’ success.  

This doesn’t mean that you need to rule with an iron fist. But it does mean that you need to consider the ramifications of short-term salves when conflicts arise.  

In terms of your business exit, this may translate to a need for a management team who can insulate you from competing interests within your own business. For example, you may have two employees gunning for the same promotion with only one position to give out. A management team can help you determine which employee is truly the best fit while helping you navigate the fallout of delivering the bad news to the employee who doesn’t get the promotion. 

Leverage Experts in the Law 

In the worst cases, any number of people may try to use the law against you, whether it’s frivolous or not, to extract something from you. Without a team of experts who can help you navigate the law in the context your business exists, you may find that fighting off legal claims is engulfing a majority of your time.  

Again, it doesn’t necessarily matter whether someone has legal ground to stand on. A vindictive employee, customer, or family member can simply try to grind you and your business down for no other reason than to harm you based on something you said or did that they didn’t like. 

Having a team of experts in the law as a safety net can help you not only reduce the likelihood of these situations taking control of your business life but also more readily address them when they arise.  

For example, your business may implement an employee’s idea that spurs growth within the company. If that employee isn’t satisfied with the recognition that they get for their idea, they may choose to make life difficult for you by suing you for intellectual property infringement.  

Whether they have the grounds to do so successfully isn’t necessarily relevant. If you don’t have a team of experts who can tell you how to react, how to respond, and what to do, you may end up spending more time and money than you ever anticipated trying to solve a problem that you thought you’d never, ever have. 

Stay Vigilant  

Your business is likely your livelihood. Your business likely supports more people than just you. As such, it is so important to ensure that you are doing everything in your power to protect your business against bad actors.  

The words you say and the actions you take have an outsized influence on your employees, your customers, and your industry. Positioning yourself to address unexpected problems that come from the things that you say or do can help you protect your business, your legacy, and your future financial security. 

We strive to help business owners identify and prioritize their objectives with respect to their businesses, their employees, and their families. If you have questions on this topic, we can help with more information or a referral to another experienced professional. 

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This is a fictional situation. Specific financial advice references provided herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not representative of decisions that have been made since the case study was published nor of decisions that would be made in the future. Advisors’ services, investment strategies and conditions for accepting accounts may vary.

Exit Planning is a discipline that typically requires the collaboration of multiple professional advisors. To the extent that our firm does not have the expertise required on a particular matter, we will always work closely with you to help you gain access to the resources and professional advice that you need.