History

History

The Legacy Associates, LLC began in 1997 in response to a growing need among family owned companies for expert guidance in meeting the challenges of succession and growth. The firm consists of a principal, Allen Bettis, and a variety of independent advisors who work in association with him.

The Need

As the baby boom generation is maturing, many substantial family businesses are experiencing transitions in leadership and ownership. Research shows that these transitions usually don’t happen smoothly. Unanticipated complications and conflicts often have costly consequences for both business and the owning family. Too often, problems are exacerbated by a failure to adequately anticipate and plan.

New Opportunity

In the last fifteen years, new research has begun to identify best practice benchmarks that can guide family businesses through change. More than 100 university business schools have launched family business programs producing an expanding body of literature with great practical value for family business owners, managers and boards. The Legacy Associates was created to help family business leaders gain access to this information, objectively assess their unique situation, create plans and take action to assure business vitality across generations.

Results

Highly satisfied clients experience increased unity and commitment among owners and managers, greater clarity of vision and strategy, as well as new structures and tools that enable effective guidance of their increasingly complex organization. Since 1997, The Legacy Associates has served more than two hundred companies, ranging in size from $2M to over $2 billion in revenue, as well as family offices and foundations. Growth of the firm continues by referral.

 

What clients tell us:

A skilled facilitator who led our family in how to work together, so that at the end of a project we could say: 'We did this ourselves.' That way we didn't just learn about ownership, we took more ownership responsibility ... within our respective roles, for stewardship and for helping shape our futures”