EP 66 · 2023-09-18 · 1:23:21
Selling Your Construction Business? Succession, Wills & Exit Planning for Contractors | Freeman Group (IG Wealth)
Wealth advisors Peter Freeman and Aaron Dressler on succession, estate, and exit planning for contractors.
PF
Peter Freeman CFP
⟶ The story, written up — a sharp read with every fact on the record. Or skip straight to the moments that matter, as clips.
// CHAPTERS — TAP TO JUMP THE PLAYER
0:00Sponsor reads: Luminous Labs, Procore, Pisan Building Products — Pre-roll partner announcements for the podcast's sponsor stack before the episode begins.1:10Meet Freeman Group: Peter Freeman and Aaron Dressler — Introductions: Peter (Halifax-born, 24 years at IG after a decade at Sobeys) and Aaron (Ontario transplant, 30 years in financial services, focused on retirees) explain the practice under the IG brand.4:22Military clients and the retirement identity crisis — Aaron's Dartmouth/Shearwater military clientele, SISIP plans, MFRC seminars, and a boot camp for members starting businesses - leading into the identity loss that hits anyone whose self and social network were their job.7:00From Sobeys to finance; the weekend-warrior builder — Peter's path from a Halifax Sobeys store through Saint Mary's University into wealth management, plus his bobcat-and-excavator hobby and why business owners fear having nothing to focus on in retirement.10:00Beyond investments: the financial quarterback role — What the practice actually does - tax, cash flow, retirement, estate, risk, succession - coordinating accountants and lawyers, planning business and personal finances together, and multi-decade, multi-generation client relationships built on education rather than selling.19:43Devil's advocate: why should a contractor trust you? — The host channels a contractor's scepticism. The advisors answer: owners are not supposed to know everything about finance; they themselves are business owners; and much of the work is educating clients on what a bookkeeper, accountant, lawyer, and advisor each actually do.30:32Mid-roll: Freeman Group, Subler Trinity, Pivot Accounting — Partner announcements: Freeman Group joins AC Media as wealth-management partner; Subler Trinity (Trinity Energy Group + Suier Constructors JV) and Pivot Accounting reads.31:40The partnership and the sounding-board role — Peter and Aaron's complementary partnership since late 2018, their vested-interest compensation model, and how owners use them as sounding board, counselor, and de facto CFO on big decisions.37:10Who gets the most value: the succession wave — No sales quotas - they will talk to anyone - but the highest-value clients are owners selling businesses producing north of $1M in assets. The 60-70% succession statistic, the construction labour shortage, and the teachers'-seminar rule: start a hard look three to five years before exit.45:55The $2-5M subcontractor problem — The host profiles his own circle: subcontractors doing millions in revenue, still invoicing from the truck, no back-office structure. You are too busy NOT to plan. Charitable giving, 'speed limits', and why your year-end accountant is not your tax advisor.51:40How engagement works: evenings, job sites, no silly questions — A free first hour, evening meetings to match self-employed hours, online clients across Canada, and visiting workplaces in safety glasses. The host frames the payoff as freed-up mental energy and peace of mind.57:55Small business as community backbone — Average Canadian company is under three people; rural businesses anchor towns. The Bowater Mersey closure on the South Shore led to Peter's Liverpool office, which now donates free space to community transit groups. The industry's shift from dictatorship to win-win collaboration.1:05:06The emotional side: deaths, the $750,000 cheque, and wills — Eight client deaths in one year; walking grieving families through next steps; the $750,000 insurance cheque that existed only because of one overlooked policy review. Roughly half of people have no will - and the province writes one for you if you don't.1:14:35Take action: closing advice — Get a proper estate plan, ask the 'silly' questions, get second and third opinions, verify professional credentials - and act, whether with Freeman Group or anyone else. Future financial-education episodes teased.1:22:33Outro sponsors: Cook Insurance and partners — Closing partner reads for Cook Insurance and other show supporters.
// THE INTRO
Host Daniel Arsenault sits down with Peter Freeman and Aaron Dressler of Freeman Group (IG Private Wealth Management), the show's new financial-services partner, to introduce financial planning for Atlantic Canada construction business owners. The conversation centres on the coming succession wave - 60-70% of businesses expected to transition or close within a decade - and why contractors doing $2-5M in revenue should start exit, estate, and insurance planning three to five years before selling. The advisors distinguish the roles of bookkeeper, accountant, lawyer, and 'financial quarterback', and close with emotional material: eight client deaths in one year, a $750,000 insurance cheque that came from one overlooked policy review, and the case for getting a will done. It is openly a partner/advertorial episode, but the advice maps directly onto the show's owner-operator audience.
// THE LESSONS
See all 17 lessons ▸Start succession planning three to five years before you sell - treat it like a teacher's mandatory pre-retirement seminar.
“three to five years before you even sell the business you should be doing a hard look with a professional”
Most owners' entire retirement is locked inside the business, so build the advisor relationship years before the sale forces it.
“their retirement is locked up in that business and it's a scary time”
60-70% of businesses will go through succession or close within a decade - construction is over-exposed because owners are aging alongside the labour shortage.
“it's estimated that 60 to 70% of businesses are going to go through some type of succession”
Running a successful business never requires knowing everything - delegate finance to experts the same way you use a lawyer or dentist.
“if you run a successful business it is never ever because you know everything about everything”
Know what each professional actually does: a year-end accountant is doing preparation and filing, not tax advisory.
“your accountant doesn't give tax advice and they don't charge you for it”
An owner's business and personal finances are inseparable - model dividend vs salary and succession decisions on both sides at once.
“I can't think of situations where it's only the business and not the personal side”
Exit planning is psychological as much as financial: owners lose identity and social network at sale, like retiring athletes.
“a lot of people their identity is wrapped around what their job title was”
'Too busy' is the trap that delays planning - if the business consumes you, you are too busy NOT to do it.
“really the answer you're too busy not to to do it”
Get a second set of eyes on insurance even when you think everything is done - one overlooked policy became a $750,000 payout.
“the heartest day of my life was handing the $750,000 check to his wife”
If you don't write a will the province writes one for you - intestacy means the government decides where your money goes.
“the reality of it is everybody has a will it's written by the The Province”
A will is useless if your executor can't find it - tell them where it is while you still can.
“do you have a will yes does your executive know where it is”
Plan key-person risk: fund the replacement of management team members so the business survives an illness or death.
“how do I protect my management team I want to make sure they're stable”
Referrals compound when clients feel confident in decisions - educate first, sell never, and the network sends you business.
“you always make me feel good about the decisions I've made”
To scale a practice past your own ceiling, take a partner whose strengths complement yours - the advice they give clients applied to themselves.
“for me to be as successful as I wanted to be I needed to be in a partnership”
Rural small businesses are community anchors - a failed succession can hollow out a whole town, as the Bowater Mersey closure showed.
“if anything happens to that business it hurts the community”
Unresolved financial disorder is a hidden productivity tax on an owner - the stress quietly drains capacity from the actual business.
“you've spent the last couple years like 30% less productive”
Pick advisors who come to the work: a professional who walks your warehouse in safety glasses will understand a construction business better.
“how can we really understand you if we haven't put safety glasses on”
// CLIPS FROM THIS EPISODE
Story · 4:32
“I started having a lot of military clients even when I was working at the bank”
Framework · 5:51
“Military members are good with structure, but there's other parts that they need”
Framework · 10:53
“When they hear financial adviser, all they think about is investments”
Hot take · 17:17
“When a business owner sells their business, most times all of their assets are in that business”
Hot take · 19:41
“You shouldn't know everything and you can't, and you're often the personality type out there creating business”
Framework · 22:37
“The most successful business owners know everything about what they do every day, and that's only a small part of the wheel”
Framework · 24:26
“You have an accountant because you don't want to be an accountant yourself”
Hot take · 44:17
“It's estimated that 60 to 70% of businesses are going to go through some type of succession”
Framework · 44:54
“We have some clients who are teachers, and they're prompted to attend a retirement seminar three to five years before they retire”
Hot take · 50:23
“Your accountant doesn't give tax advice and they don't charge you for it”
Story · 1:02:24
“I'll give you an example, and it was many years ago, Bowater Mersey down on the South Shore when they closed”
Emotional · 1:07:22
“I'll give you one example where you really see the emotional side of it”
Story · 1:09:40
“I think of one client who said no, I got everything done, I really don't need to talk to you”
Hot take · 1:12:47
“It's somewhere around 50% of people don't have a will”
Framework · 1:18:11
“I think of it like a steam locomotive, this 500-ton beast rolling down the track”
All 17 lessons from this episode, on one page.
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// FEATURED BUSINESSES
Freeman Group Private Wealth Management
Halifax-based private wealth management and financial planning practice operating under the IG Wealth …
Luminous Labs Inc.
Halifax-based architectural visualization studio producing photorealistic 3D renders, 360-degree inter…
Trinity Energy Group
Atlantic Canada building-envelope and energy-efficiency contractor specializing in commercial and resi…
IG Wealth Management Inc.
IG Wealth Management is a national Canadian financial planning and wealth management firm offering inv…
Payzant Building Products Ltd.
Family-owned, multi-generational Atlantic Canada building-materials and home-improvement retailer oper…
Soubliere-Trinity
An Atlantic Canada interior-systems contractor formed as a partnership between Trinity Energy Group (a…
// FACT-CHECKED ✓ web-verified, with sources
✓ VERIFIED
Start succession/exit planning three to five years before selling.
CFIB and multiple financial advisory sources (MNP, CIBC, RBC Wealth Management) consistently recommend starting succession planning 3-5 years before an anticipated exit. This is standard industry guidance confirmed by multiple credible sources.
SOURCE ▸// COMPANIES & ORGS ✓ verified
Freeman Group Private Wealth Management ▸IG Wealth Management Inc. ▸Peter Freeman CFPAaron Dressler CFPSoublière Constructors ▸Soubliere Trinity ▸Trinity Energy Group ▸Payzant Building ProductsLuminous Labs ▸SISIP FinancialBowater Mersey Paper Company Limited
SOURCE: podscope · public episode data · BuV8he1VdWU