What Is So Special About Employee-Owned Companies?

This video Brilliance Nugget (with transcript) is about a business vehicle I’m quite passionate about, namely, employee-ownership.

I “warned” you from the beginning of my Brilliance Nugget writing journey (which I started 194 days ago) that the nuggets would be short, (hopefully) fun and useful, and … imperfect. After recording this video, I realized I left out at least one vital point. Please watch this 1-minute video. Underneath the transcript, I will tell you my “addendum” to the video (also short).

Transcript Of The Video (scroll down to see my “addendum”)

Hello. I’m Dr. Stephie, founder and CEO of the Brilliance Mine. I love employee-owned companies. The reason why I do is because it is a win-win for both the original founder of a business and his or her employees.

The way it works is that, basically, you sell your business to your employees, which can get often be funded by a bank. The employees get stock in the form of that’s held in essentially a retirement plan called ESOP. That’s not the only way, but that’s the most common way.

You get to save a lot of taxes as well.

Furthermore, you actually get to control the fate of the business you and your employees have built because you now get to leave a legacy. It keeps going and contributing and making the impact you decided to make. That is fabulous because when you sell to a third party, who knows what they will do with it. It’s their right to do whatever they want with it. And so it’s truly a win-win. I love it.

Talk to me about this if you like. Ciao.

The Important Addendum (which could lead to a Brilliance Nugget on its own)

When you convert your company into an employee-owned one, you also have the opportunity to fundamentally change the thinking of your employees. You have the opportunity to train them to think more like a business owner – which is a mindset very different from that of typical employees. With that shift in mindset, you can beat the profit margins of your competitors in your industry!

I’m Curious

What is your experience with employee-owned companies?