Non-binding request for Jim Erben
Jim Erben
Jim Erben is a globally recognized expert on exit and succession planning who helps business owners secure their legacy and navigate complex transitions.
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Why book Jim Erben for your next event
- Learn how to plan and execute a successful business exit with proven strategies developed through more than 30 years of experience.
- Gain practical insights on succession planning, executive retention, and long-term business continuity.
- Discover a structured roadmap that helps business owners protect value, plan transitions, and build a lasting legacy.
Non-binding request for Jim Erben
Exit & Succession Expert | President of Erben Associates | Trusted Advisor to Business Owners
Jim Erben is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, exit and succession strategist, and President of Erben Associates. With more than three decades of experience advising business leaders, he helps privately held companies navigate one of the most critical moments in their journey: the transition of ownership and leadership. Each year, Jim speaks to thousands of executives, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers across the world, sharing clear and actionable strategies for succession planning, business continuity, and executive retention. His straightforward style resonates with leaders who want practical guidance rather than theory.
Jim Erben – Exit & Succession Planning Expert
Jim Erben is a globally recognized authority on exit and succession planning for privately held businesses. As the founder and President of Erben Associates, he has dedicated more than 30 years to helping business owners, corporate executives, and high net worth individuals prepare for one of the most significant events in their professional lives: transitioning out of a business while protecting both value and legacy.
His expertise has made him a trusted advisor and a highly requested keynote speaker for conferences, leadership events, and executive gatherings. Organizations invite Jim Erben to speak because he brings clarity to a topic that many business owners find overwhelming. His presentations focus on practical strategies that leaders can apply immediately to strengthen continuity, protect company value, and ensure a smooth transition.
Under Jim’s leadership, Erben Associates has earned national recognition, appearing multiple years on the INC. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in the United States. The firm is also recognized as the #1 exit and succession planning firm in Texas.
Book Jim Erben for Your Event
Event organizers who book Jim Erben gain a speaker who combines deep advisory experience with a clear and engaging stage presence. Each year, he shares his insights with thousands of business leaders across industries, helping them understand how early planning and structured decision-making can dramatically improve exit outcomes.
Jim’s presentations address topics that are highly relevant to today’s business environment, including:
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Exit and succession planning strategies
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Protecting business value during leadership transitions
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Executive retention and continuity planning
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Preparing for the unexpected through contingency planning
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Aligning business decisions with long-term legacy goals
His talks are known for being direct, insightful, and highly actionable. Rather than focusing on abstract concepts, Jim shares real-world lessons drawn from decades of advising successful business owners.
The result is a keynote experience that equips audiences with practical tools they can use to make smarter strategic decisions about their future.
Founder of Erben Associates
Jim Erben is the founder and owner of Erben Associates, a family wealth advisory office focused exclusively on privately held business owners, corporate executives, and high net worth individuals. The firm specializes in helping clients clarify their long-term goals and translate those goals into a comprehensive exit strategy.
Many business owners spend decades building their companies but have no structured plan for what happens next. Jim and his team work closely with clients to solve this challenge by developing a written roadmap that guides every stage of the transition process.
This roadmap addresses essential elements such as:
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Succession and ownership transition
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Business continuity planning
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Contingency planning
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Post-exit financial and lifestyle planning
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Long-term legacy considerations
Through this process, clients gain clarity, structure, and confidence as they prepare for a future beyond the business.
A Trusted Advisor to Business Leaders
Jim’s influence extends beyond private advisory work. He is one of only 500 senior American business leaders representing the private sector in Business Executives for National Security, an invitation-only think tank dedicated to strengthening national security through private sector insight.
This role reflects the level of trust and respect Jim has earned throughout his career. His perspective on leadership, continuity, and strategic planning has proven valuable not just for businesses but also for organizations focused on broader national challenges.
At the heart of Jim’s work is a belief that business transitions should be intentional and well-designed. Without preparation, ownership changes can create uncertainty for employees, families, and stakeholders. With the right strategy in place, these transitions can protect what has been built and create new opportunities for growth and impact.
Creating Lasting Legacies
Jim Erben’s proprietary planning process helps business owners navigate the many complexities surrounding exit and succession planning. By aligning business strategy with personal goals, he enables leaders to design an exit that supports both financial security and long-term legacy.
His team’s mission is to efficiently crystallize their clients’ goals and transform them into actionable plans. Through deep expertise, extensive experience, and a broad network of resources, they help clients move forward with clarity and peace of mind.
For audiences of entrepreneurs, executives, and business owners, Jim’s message is both practical and inspiring: successful exits do not happen by accident. They happen through thoughtful preparation, strategic planning, and a commitment to protecting the legacy of the business.
Organizations that book Jim Erben gain a speaker who brings decades of insight into one of the most important challenges facing business leaders today, ensuring that the companies they built continue to thrive long after they step away.
Customer Reviews
5 of 5
I first heard Jim speak over 10 years ago. The timing was perfect. My family business needed his succession expertise right at that moment. After hearing his presentation, I knew it was time to take action. Jim met with me the next day and we have had a consistent business relationship since then. My father, brothers, and son have now all heard Jim speak on this topic. He has the personality that is “easy” for many different generations to relate to. I would highly recommend any business owner to attend Jim Erben’s presentation.
Dan SnyderSynder’s Certified Auto and Truck Parts, 3rd Generation Business Owner
5 of 5
Jim is one of those speakers that still stay top of mind, even after hearing him over a year ago. I have been fortunate to work with Jim over the past year creating my succession by design plan. The peace of mind I now have makes the weight of the responsibility for my family, employees, and business much easier to carry.
Donnie WeaverFounder and President of Weaver Technologies
5 of 5
Powerful presentation on so many levels. Jim's one of kind approach was just punch in the gut I needed make sure that my affairs are in order before I need them to be, and avoid a catastrophic problem for my businesses and my family. Jim, you saved my family and my team a lot of unneeded heart ache! Forever grateful!
STEPHEN SCOGGINS8 Figure Entrepreneur, Speaker, Author Founder - CEO of The CHE Companies & Scoggins International
Rated 5.00/5 based on 3 customer reviews
Keynotes
Keynote by Jim Erben:
Succession by Design, Not Default
The minute that your business has value is the minute you have something to lose. Without a written plan, confusion and heartbreak are on the other side of a succession or exit from the business.
Jim Erben uses storytelling to provide insight and best practices from his 30 years of succession planning experience. His proven guide will offer relief to owners so they can protect the value of their business — regardless of their stage.
KEY AUDIENCE TAKE-AWAYS
- The biggest mistake business owners make that limits the value of the company.
- How to create a solid. Emergency Operating Plan that protects your financial future.
- A 6-step roadmap to a successful exit or transition from your business so that you can live "Happily, Ever After."
Keynote by Jim Erben:
EVERLASTING LEGACY: Empowering future generations to make sustainable financial decisions
Business owners are well-versed in revenue growth, profitability, and leadership. Yet, their hard work can lead to devastation if there is a lack of proactive succession planning. When you clearly define ownership, stewardship, and values, you serve each generation beyond your lifetime.
Challenge your audience: everyone will leave a legacy. Have you decided what your legacy will be?
KEY AUDIENCE TAKE-AWAYS
- Identify and align personal core values to business core values
- Develop multi-generational communication tools between family members as it relates to long term sustainable financial growth and decisions.
- How to avoid all of the obstacles that might impede future family financial goals and objectives.
Keynote by Jim Erben:
Emergency Proof Your Business: Solve the constant mis-steps that make a business owners life a living hell.
Most people spend their time planning for the wrong emergency.
As a business owner, that sentence should scare you. We get so caught up in putting out the day to day fires that get our quick and constant attention that we have no idea that a slow, steady, undetectable gas leak is happening right under our noses and at any time...boom.
Did you know that 90% of companies have no plan for when things go awry? Destruction. Devastation. Devaluation. I’ll take what’s behind door # 2, Jim.
What if there was a way to another outcome? A way to prepare for what you cannot always prevent? Door #2 does and can exist for any business owner out there.
Engage your audience and ensure that they are equipped to make the best case out of the worst case scenario.
KEY AUDIENCE TAKE-AWAYS
- Begin thinking critically about “What happens if the worst happens?” as a business owner
- Develop the beginnings of a comprehensive Emergency Operating Plan for your business
- Tools to create a plan that addresses all of the key components: your family, employees, and the business
- A keen understanding of the importance of aligning your “Will for your Family” with the “Will for your Business”
Jim Erben, Speaker Reel
Watch Jim Erben in action!
