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Guides and resources to help you set up equity and profit sharing with confidence.
What Is Phantom Equity?
A plain-English guide to phantom equity plans for small business owners.
Profit Sharing vs. Phantom Equity: Which Is Right for Your Team?
Understand the key differences so you can choose the plan that fits your business.
How Phantom Equity Vesting Works
Cliff vesting, graded vesting, milestone triggers: a practical guide to structuring your phantom equity schedule.
Phantom Equity and Taxes in Canada: What Employers Need to Know
How phantom equity payouts are taxed for Canadian small businesses, for both employers and employees.
How Does Phantom Equity Work?
A step-by-step walkthrough of how phantom equity plans work, from issuing units to triggering a payout, in plain language for small business owners.
Is Phantom Equity a Good Idea for Small Businesses?
Weighing whether phantom equity makes sense for your small business: the real benefits, the real tradeoffs, and who it's actually right for.
What Are the Disadvantages of Phantom Equity?
Phantom equity has real advantages, but it also has tradeoffs. Here's an honest look at the downsides before you set up a plan.
Phantom Equity vs. Real Equity: What's the Difference?
Not sure whether to offer phantom equity or actual shares? Here's a plain-English breakdown of the differences and which one makes sense for your business.
Who Should Receive Phantom Equity in a Small Business?
Not everyone on your team needs phantom equity. Here's a practical framework for deciding who to offer it to and how to think about grant size.
How Do You Set Up a Phantom Equity Plan?
A practical step-by-step guide to setting up a phantom equity plan for your small business, without a lawyer on retainer.
Do Small Businesses Need a Tool Like Carta?
Carta is built for funded startups managing real cap tables. If you run a restaurant, a clinic, or a trades business, here's what you actually need.
Why Your Equity Plan Fails If Employees Can't See It
A phantom equity plan only retains people if they believe in it. That belief comes from visibility, not from a promise your employees have to take on faith.
Phantom Equity Isn't Just for Tech Companies
Every equity tool on the market was built for funded startups. But the retention problem they solve is just as real for restaurants, clinics, trades businesses, and agencies.
What Is Profit Sharing?
A plain-English guide to profit sharing for small business owners: how it works, what it costs, and whether it makes sense for your team.
Profit Sharing vs. a Year-End Bonus: What's the Difference?
Both put extra money in employees' pockets. But they work differently, and employees perceive them very differently.
How to Structure a Profit Sharing Plan
The practical decisions every small business owner needs to make before setting up a profit sharing plan: percentages, eligibility, distribution method, and payout timing.
Phantom Equity for LLCs: A Practical Guide
LLCs can't issue stock options. But they can give employees a meaningful financial stake in the business. Here's how phantom equity works for an LLC structure.
How to Give Employees a Stake in the Business Without Giving Up Ownership
You can give employees a real financial interest in the company's success without changing your ownership structure. Here are the options, and when each one makes sense.
How to Retain Employees in Construction
Skilled tradespeople have options. Here's what actually works for keeping your best people in a market where labor is tight and competitors are always hiring.
Employee Ownership Plans for Small Business: What Are Your Options?
Small business owners have several ways to give employees a financial stake in the company. Each option comes with different complexity, different tax treatment, and different trade-offs.
How to Keep Dental Hygienists from Leaving
Hygienist turnover is one of the most disruptive and expensive problems a dental practice can face. Here's what actually keeps experienced hygienists long-term.
Profit Sharing for Dental Practices: A Practical Setup Guide
A profit sharing plan can improve retention and align your team with the practice's financial health. Here's how to structure one that actually works.
Equity Programs for Businesses That Will Never Take VC Money
Most equity tools were designed for funded startups. If your business is profitable, privately owned, and will never have a cap table, here's what actually works.