Our Story
Built From Experience
Like many in our industry, our early work at Erben Associates centered broadly on financial advising. Over time, however, we began to see a pattern: the business owners we worked with were lacking coordination, transparency, and a plan for what would happen to their businesses next.
That realization shaped the direction of our firm. What began as a broader advisory practice evolved into a more focused effort to help business owners prepare for transition — not just financially, but across every aspect of ownership, leadership, and legacy.
Planning must be coordinated, forward-looking, and designed to hold up in moments of uncertainty.
One early situation changed the direction of Erben Associates. A business owner client faced a serious health crisis without a plan in place for the future of the company. The business itself was strong, but there was no structure around ownership, leadership, or transition.
The uncertainty extended beyond the business, affecting the family, employees, and the long-term value of what had been built.
Working through the lack of succession planning required more than traditional financial advice. It called for bringing together legal, financial, and operational considerations into a single, coordinated plan.
That experience ultimately influenced the direction of our work and the way we think about planning today — reinforcing that planning must be coordinated, forward-looking, and designed to hold up in moments of uncertainty.
Following that experience, we began to look at our work differently. We saw that for business owners, the most important financial decisions are rarely isolated. They are tied directly to the future of the business, yet often addressed separately across different advisors.
We chose to focus on that intersection. Rather than treating exit planning as an occasional need, it became the foundation of our work. The goal was to create a more complete and intentional way to prepare for transition, one that reflects both the financial realities and personal priorities of the business owner.
Our perspective has continued to evolve through the clients we have worked with over the years. We have seen business owners spend decades building successful companies without a clear plan for transition, and families navigating difficult decisions without a shared understanding of what comes next.
We have also seen the difference that preparation can make. When there is clarity around the future, decisions become more deliberate, transitions become more stable, and outcomes are less dependent on circumstance.
These experiences have shaped how we view our role. Not simply as advisors, but as a steady presence in moments that carry long-term importance.