Governance for owner-managed businesses

Governance is not just for large companies. Owner-managed businesses need clear decision-making precisely because the same people are often owners, directors, family members and employees all at once. When those roles blur, ordinary decisions can become disputes.

What good governance settles

• Board decisions. How major decisions are recorded, and how conflicts are managed.
• Reserved matters. Which decisions need shareholder consent.
• Authority limits. Who can sign contracts, hire, borrow or commit significant spend.
• Related-party dealings. Loans, guarantees, leases and family arrangements, properly documented.
• Succession. Planning for illness, incapacity, retirement and sale.

A short checklist

• Confirm who is a director and who can bind the company.
• Update the articles and put a shareholders’ agreement in place.
• Record board minutes for important decisions.
• Document director loans and related-party transactions.
• Review governance each year with your accountants and lawyers.

Common traps

• Informal decision-making on major matters.
• Passive shareholders kept in the dark.
• Undocumented loans or guarantees.
• Dependence on the founder, with no succession plan.

We help owner-managed companies build governance that is practical, protective and proportionate — not bureaucracy for its own sake.