Most business owners have thought about it. Very few have answered it in writing. The calculator helps you quantify the gap — and close it.
Nobody wants to think about dying. But if you've spent years building a business, the worst thing you can do is leave the people who depend on it — employees, partners, your family — with no plan and no resources when the unthinkable happens. It's not morbid to plan for it. It's irresponsible not to.
The business continuity calculator asks the hard questions: What is your business worth? What revenue stops the day you die? What debt is personally guaranteed? What cash does the business have to operate and cover replacement costs? The calculator walks through the gap between what your business has now and what it needs to survive your absence.
Three primary financial tools protect business continuity: key person insurance (which pays the business directly when a critical person dies), buy-sell agreement funding (which ensures your business partners can buy out your heirs without chaos), and disability coverage (because you're more likely to be disabled than to die while you're still working). Most small business owners have none of these fully funded.
For business owners in the Texas Panhandle — IT companies, agricultural operations, service businesses — the concentration of value in a single person is often extreme. A two-person operation where one person handles all client relationships, all technical work, and all strategic decisions is a ticking clock. The continuity calculator helps you see that reality clearly so you can build the protection to match it.
Access the calculator at our Strategy Center, then schedule a session to discuss what the right coverage structure looks like for your specific business.
See what your business loses if you die tomorrow — and what it costs to close that gap with the right protection.
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Book Your 30-Minute CallBusiness continuity planning is the process of ensuring your business can survive the death, disability, or departure of its key people — including the owner. Most small businesses are critically dependent on one or two individuals. If that person is gone tomorrow, what happens to revenue? Who fills their role? Who has the authority to run operations? Who pays the business debts? A business continuity plan answers these questions before you need the answers — not during a crisis when it's too late to make good decisions.
Key person insurance is a life insurance policy owned by the business on the life of a critical employee or owner. If that person dies, the death benefit goes to the business — providing capital to cover lost revenue, recruit and train a replacement, pay off business debts, or simply buy the business time to stabilize. The premium is paid by the business, and the death benefit is received tax-free. Key person policies are typically 3-10x the insured's annual contribution to revenue or salary. Most lenders also look favorably on businesses that carry key person coverage.
A buy-sell agreement is a legally binding contract that determines what happens to a business owner's interest when they die, become disabled, or want to exit. For a two-owner business, it typically says: if one owner dies, the surviving owner has the right — and obligation — to buy the deceased's share at a predetermined price or formula, and the deceased's estate has the obligation to sell. Without a buy-sell agreement, a deceased owner's heirs may become your business partners — whether you want them or not. It protects both the surviving business and the departing owner's family.
It depends on how the debt is structured. Personally guaranteed business debt becomes a claim against the owner's personal estate — meaning creditors can pursue personal assets, including the family home, to satisfy business obligations. Business debt in a corporation or LLC without personal guarantee typically stays with the business entity. SBA loans almost always require personal guarantees. The key question: which of your business debts are personally guaranteed? Those debts create a direct threat to your family's financial security if you die while they remain outstanding.
Several methods exist: revenue multiple (many service businesses are valued at 0.5-1x annual revenue); EBITDA multiple (typically 3-6x earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization); book value (total assets minus liabilities); or discounted cash flow (present value of future projected earnings). For insurance funding purposes, the valuation method is often agreed upon in the buy-sell agreement itself. Having a formal business valuation done by a CPA or business appraiser gives you a documented, defensible number.
Business continuity focuses on what happens immediately if a key person is suddenly gone — covering the operational, financial, and legal needs of the business in the 30-90 days after an unexpected event. Business succession is the longer-term plan for transitioning ownership and leadership — whether to family members, employees, or an outside buyer. A continuity plan without a succession plan just delays the crisis. A succession plan without a continuity plan assumes you'll have time to execute an orderly transition, which death or disability does not allow. You need both, and they need to work together.
Disability is actually more financially dangerous than death for most business owners — because you're still alive (with living expenses), but you can't work. A long-term disability can drain a business of cash as it tries to replace your function while still paying your personal expenses. Business overhead coverage (BOE insurance) pays the business's operating expenses if you're disabled — rent, utilities, employee salaries, loan payments — giving the business time to survive while you recover. Most business owners have life insurance but no disability or BOE coverage, which creates a major blind spot.
Business overhead expense insurance reimburses a business for its regular monthly operating expenses during the owner's disability — typically for 12-24 months. Covered expenses usually include rent, utilities, employee salaries, loan payments, and professional fees. The benefit is paid to the business (not personally) and the premium is tax-deductible as a business expense. BOE is most valuable for professional service businesses and small operations that are highly dependent on the owner's daily presence and whose operations would struggle to fund themselves during an extended absence.
The most common funding mechanism is life insurance. Each business owner takes out a policy on the other's life (cross-purchase) or the business takes out policies on all owners (entity purchase). When an owner dies, the death benefit provides the cash to buy out the deceased's interest at the agreed price. Without insurance funding, a buyout requires the surviving owner to come up with cash — often a large sum at exactly the moment they can least afford it. Life insurance turns a potentially catastrophic financial event into a pre-funded, manageable transaction.
Entity structure significantly affects succession planning options. S-corporations have strict rules on who can be shareholders — foreign nationals and most trusts cannot hold S-corp shares, which limits transfer options. LLCs are generally more flexible for succession planning and can have operating agreements that specify transfer restrictions, buyout procedures, and governance. S-corp shares passing to the wrong heir can inadvertently terminate S-corp status, triggering significant tax consequences. Understanding how your entity structure interacts with your succession plan is essential — work with both an attorney and financial professional.