Catch 21 The Next Generation

Scenario-
• The ranch has been in the family for the last 20-50 years.
• The person/s that are owners of the operation are reaching what most people would think as retirement age. 65-70
• The ranch has struggled through most of the 70s 80s 90s & 2000s.
• It has been on the edge of “losing the ranch” for most of its life.
• It has a land & operating debt that for some reason it just can’t shake.
• It has kids who have been working on the ranch for 10 plus years and would like to take over the operation as owners.
• The kids have ideas for the ranch that are new and somewhat radical to the ranchers who have struggled just to make it to this point.
• The owners see these ideas as overwhelming and are very skeptical about if it will work or not.
• Communication is not at its best
• Assumptions and expectations of feelings and thoughts of each other take the place of communication.
• Words are shared tensions are high accusations are made.

Sound Familiar?

You are trapped in a Catch 21 where the answer is yet to be found. How many ranches are there that are in this same scenario? 10%-20% would be a good guess.

The problem is that the current owners and the up and coming kids both want the same thing

Peace Of Mind & Security.

But only one can have what they both need.
The owners want security in their retirement years. They want to know that they will have equity to fall back on. Their 401K plan if you will.
The kids want security in their prime money making years.
The kids see what the current owners have gone and/or are going through and say to themselves “We can stop this from happening to us. We can be prepared for our retirement as well as our kids taking over the business.”

What’s the first step in solving this problem?

1. Catching it before it happens. If you can see this coming then it would be great to deal with it then and prepare yourselves for decisions that need to be made.
2. Acknowledgment of the problem.
3. Accepting that it is not the faults of either party. This can be tough especially if the tensions have been high and words have been said that have hurt of devastated the relationships.
4. Heal the wounds.
5. Come to a general agreement.

This all sounds real simple, but there are always a number of variables that make it much more complicated. Each situation has to be handled on a case by case basis.

My advice to anyone in this situation is:
Keep the communications open. Assumptions and Expectations of each other’s feelings & thought is very dangerous to the relationships and should be avoided at all costs.

Take Care
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