Thomas William Deans

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Thomas William Deans is the author of the best selling book, Every Family's Business: A Blueprint for Protecting Family Business Wealth. Deans has advanced a refreshing perspective of family business succession planning, arguing that gifting family businesses to the next generation destroys family wealth and family relationships. The author presents 12 questions aimed at probing whether the next generation will risk their own capital to purchase the stock of the family business. The 12 questions also bring into focus the important role that children can play in helping the senior generation sell the business at the peak of its enterprise value. The book challenges the conventional dynastic view of family businesses, arguing that families should focus on wealth creation and preservation not on pursuing the "longevity" of the business as a fundamental objective. With only 3% of American and Canadian family firms successfully passing ownership to the 3rd generation the book offers a poignant reminder to business owners about the risks of gifting businesses --often the result of no formal succession plan. Cyrstalizing wealth through the sale of a family business -- engaging professionals to manage the proceeds from the sale of a family business, is the first step to protecting generational wealth. The book encourages an intergenerational and collaborative approach to family business succession planning, leading readers to embrace a broader definition of legacy beyond the survival of a company name or brand. Deans stands the conventional view of family business on its head and offers a common sense method to protect families from themselves --silence is the great destroyer of wealth in family businesses-- and Every Family's Business will get families thinking, planning and acting on their own family driven succession plans.

Thomas William Deans (Tom Deans) has a BA from Mount Allison Uiversity, a MA from McMaster University and a Ph.D. from the University of Warwick (UK). He is the President of Detente Financial Corp a firm that specializes in teaching wealth strategies through seminars sponsored by profesional and financial services companies. A highly sought after international public speaker on succession planning, wealth management and charitable giving, Dr. Deans lives in Ontario, Canada.