Thirty-five years ago, Roland Spongberg started a restaurant company with one El Pollo Loco in Long Beach, CA. Today, WKS Restaurant Company employs 12,000 employees across 375 restaurants in 19 states operating Denny’s, El Pollo Loco, Krispy Kreme, and Wendy’s.
From a pure family perspective, with six children, Roland initially thought he would simply divide his estate by six. However, as an owner of a business with the family involved, he realized quickly it was much more complicated. Roland had family working in the business with different levels of leadership, family not working in the business, and family in different stages in life. Additionally, the business provided for 12,000 employees beyond his immediate family.
Due to the complicated environment, Roland leaned on succession planners, Hugh Roberts and Jeff Bannon to guide him and his family through a very open process of building equitable succession strategies for the business and family.
Listen in to hear Roland Spongberg share how by proactively building succession strategies, he has created an equitable environment allowing his family and business to flourish.
Resources
- Succession Readiness Survey: A 7-minute investment in time will put you in an informed position of opportunities many business owners overlook impacting business value, growth, lifestyle, and ultimately achieving your vision.
- Contact Us: We can help you with insights, other resources, and see if it makes sense to work together. At the very least, in 30 minutes, you may get some ideas you can apply to your business right away.
For more insight from Roland Spongberg, Founder and President of WKS Restaurant Group, check out the episode Strategies Evolve as the Family and Business Evolves
The Succession Planning Matrix
The Succession Planning Matrix
Many people put off succession planning because they think it means retirement, exit, and the end. However; succession planning is just the beginning. It gives the owner options in terms of what “their next” looks like, whether that be growth, philanthropy, or a new business venture. Our process focuses are addressing 10 key areas of what we call the Succession Matrix.
Click the following link for more drill-down resources on The Succession Matrix, or check out our Facebook post.
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We can help you with insights, other resources, and see if it makes sense to work together. At the very least, in 30 minutes, you may get some ideas you can apply to your business right away.