Ownership Strategies

Ownership Services

An integral part of corporate governance is the control of an enterprise by representatives of its owners.

At The Mercury Centre, we use the term ownership strategies to describe our services to owners and aspiring owners in business, social enterprises and member based organisations. Our ownership services are:

OPTical

The Ownership Planning Tool (OPTical) has been developed to assist small to medium enterprises focus on ownership transition and management, and to develop an ownership vision for the future. It enables greater control of the process of growth and change around the vital issue of ownership.

OPTical:
	allows a structured dialogue of the options for tomorrow;
	defines a future ownership strategy; and
	puts the owner in control of the change

by:
	using the Ownership Evolution Model©
	describing the enterprise as it exists today;
	describing the enterprise as it would be tomorrow;
	creating a road-map for change; and
	providing a clear understanding of the required resources.

OPTical uses The Mercury Centre’s Ownership Evolution Model© which was developed to describe the elements and processes of ownership change and engage stakeholders in a simple way in what is clearly a complex area.

The name OPTical flowed from a merger of its two major objectives – Ownership Planning Tool and being practical.

If you would like a copy of an Overview of OPTical, please email us.

Community Buyouts

Rural communities often depend heavily on small businesses for their services, such as petrol/service stations, hotels and stores. These and other small businesses are critical to the vibrant economic life of country towns.

The closure of these businesses can threaten the viability of rural communities and can act as a stimulus for the community to come together (usually as a co-operative) to purchase and run the service. There are many examples of this occurring in Australia.

The Mercury Centre can assist in such transitions to community ownership.

Business Succession

Business owners invest a great deal of energy and resources in building value in their business but they pay little attention to how they might unlock that value when needed.

The impact of poor succession is a loss of retirement “nest eggs”, loss of jobs, falling asset values and declining wealth resulting in a loss of the value created by the investment of energy and resources over the years.

Succession planning is not an event but a process that takes a number of years for most businesses.

The Mercury Centre now has available an "ESOP Model" that can assist retiring small business owners to transition their businesses to their employees as part of a succession plan.  More...

The Mercury Centre can assist with other options and strategies that provide the best outcome for the owners and the business.

Employee Ownership

Employee ownership is win/win - there are distinct advantages to the employer, equalled by the advantages to the employee.

An employee owned sector in the economy benefits democracy, productivity and the fair distribution of wealth in the community through increasing the number of “owners” and enhancing the culture of “ownership and participation” in productive enterprises.

Employee ownership has a number of business advantages including:

	improving organisational performance
	providing an employee benefit, for the financial or tax advantages
	attracting or retaining staff
	transferring ownership in a business succession

Evidence from the available research, indicates that when employees own a stake in the business, the attitude of a company changes—and so does its bottom line.

There is more than one model of an employee owned private business.

The legal models adopted by those businesses introducing employee ownership include companies limited by shares, co-operatives and trust based ownership models.

Employee ownership is more widespread than is generally recognised. Few businesses tend to advertise their ownership structure. Even where the employee ownership stake is substantial, such businesses still have management structures to suit the size and organisation of the business. Good communication, empowerment and participation are critical to the success of the business.

The Mercury Centre can assist with devising options and strategies that provide the best outcome for the owners and the business. If you are considering employee ownership, we can assist you with a feasibility study.

The Mercury Centre is a member of the Australian Employee Ownership Association.

Resources

Information Sheets

Reference Material

Links

67Kb	Business Succession	A snapshot of the current trends in business succession and planning for succession in Australia and overseas
70Kb	Business Transition in Regional Australia	An overview of the experience of ownership transition in rural and regional Australia
70Kb	Typical Buyout Solutions	A look at the community and employee buyout as a method of retaining a locally owned business
62Kb	Employee Ownership	Outlines the benefits to a business, the economy and the wider community of introducing employee ownership into a business
75Kb	Employee Participation in Ownership	Examines how employees participate in the business through employee ownership

 

235Kb	Employee Buyouts Guide	Employee ownership of a business can be achieved through a process called an "employee buy-out". This guide sets out what an employee buy-out is, when a buy-out is appropriate and why a buy-out should be considered. It also deals with the forms of buy-outs and the steps in performing a buy-out.
70Kb	Business Succession and Buyout Solutions to Rejuvenate Communities	Presentation to the Small Business Development Conference in October 2006 by Alan Greig, Director, Ownership Strategies of The Mercury Centre
552Kb	Co-op Comeback in the Outback	Article reproduced from the April 2006 edition of Ethical Investor exploring the topic that “Rural communities are pooling funds to plug the drain of essential services”
997Kb	Asset Based Policies: Matched Savings Accounts: Exploring Options	Report to the Chifley Research Centre Prepared by The Allen Consulting Group. Table 1.1 on page 8 provides details of empirical studies linking asset ownership to measures of well being

 

	AEOA (Australian Employee Ownership Association) - The Association was founded in 1986 to promote employee ownership (or co-ownership) of the businesses where they work.