The Minimum Viable Setup

Part of Running a Family Office Under $100M

This is for founders who are looking at the full playbook and thinking: "This is comprehensive, but I don't need all of this. Where do I actually start?"

The minimum viable setup. Not a reference to sophistication or aspiration. A ruthless focus on what's actually essential at £5-25M, and permission to keep it simple until more complexity is genuinely justified.

The Minimum Viable Setup

Three pieces:

Structure: A holding company. Nothing fancy. Just a corporate entity that sits between you and your investments. Costs £500-1,000 to set up, £400-600 annually to maintain. It separates your personal liability from your assets, provides a container for tax planning, and creates options as wealth grows.

At £5M, this is probably enough. At £25M, you might add a trust if family circumstances warrant it. Beyond £25M, you might layer more complexity. But for the majority of founders in this range, a holding company is the main piece.

Tax advice: A specialist in high-net-worth individuals. Not your startup's accountant unless they've specifically developed expertise here. Not the local tax professional who does small business returns. Someone who focuses on founder situations and personal wealth. Annual tax planning conversation. Quarterly check-ins if anything big is happening. Cost: £3,000-8,000 annually, depending on complexity.

This person helps you understand what you owe at exit, what structure makes sense, and what changes as your situation evolves. This person is the backbone of the whole setup. Worth paying for experience.

Estate documents: A will, powers of attorney, and advance directives. Not complex multi-jurisdiction trusts with specialist administration. Basic documents that cover the fundamentals of protection. Cost: £1,500-3,000 for proper work. Your tax advisor will coordinate with whoever does these, so structure and estate planning work together.

Tracking: A simple system for seeing your complete picture. Could be a spreadsheet. Could be Personal Capital or similar software. Something where you can see: total assets across accounts, what entities hold what, who your advisors are, where important documents live. Cost: Free to a few hundred annually for software.

That's the minimum viable setup. Total cost: £5,000-12,000 annually plus initial setup. On £10M, that's 0.05-0.12% of assets. You can build this in a month.

What This Setup Does

Protects you. The holding company provides liability separation. The documents protect your family if something happens to you. Insurance (which you should add) protects against the main risks that could destroy your wealth.

Coordinates tax planning. Your tax advisor helps you understand the implications of decisions. You're not flying blind.

Tracks everything. You know what you own, where it sits, who's responsible for what. This alone prevents a huge number of mistakes.

Creates a foundation. This minimum setup isn't the final state for most founders. But it's stable and functional. You can build from here.

What It Doesn't Do

It doesn't refine everything. Your portfolio isn't professionally managed. Your tax situation isn't as efficient as it could be—there might be planning opportunities you're missing. Your alternative allocation isn't systematically sourced and monitored.

It doesn't provide full-service support. You're making investment decisions, not just approving them. You're coordinating between advisors, not having someone do it. You're tracking progress and rebalancing, not delegating it.

It doesn't handle complexity at scale. Once you're at £30M+ with multiple properties, complex family situations, and significant illiquid commitments, this setup becomes inadequate. But for £5-25M in simpler situations, it's more than enough.

When to Add Layers

You add a wealth manager when the portfolio gets complex enough that you don't want to manage it. Usually somewhere between £15-25M, depending on whether you enjoy this work or not. Cost: 0.5-1% of assets.

You add a VFO or dedicated coordinator when tracking and coordination become full-time work. Usually above £25M, sometimes earlier if you have many properties or complex family structures. Cost: £40,000-100,000+ annually.

You add more sophisticated tax planning when the potential savings justify the complexity. At £8M, aggressive restructuring costs more than you save. At £30M+, tax refinement often makes sense.

You add asset protection beyond standard insurance when you have specific exposures (operating businesses, board service, real estate with liability risk). Some founders need this earlier than others.

You add philanthropic structures when you're actually committed to significant giving. Not as a tax play—the economics rarely work. As an actual intention.

Sequencing

When you first have money:

Month 1-2: Get the tax advisor, put structure in place, draft documents.

Month 3-4: Open accounts, move money, start making basic investment decisions.

Month 6 onwards: Track progress, adjust as needed.

Year 2: Audit what you've built, make refinements.

Years 2-3: If the portfolio is doing well and growing, start thinking about whether the next layer (wealth manager, alternatives access) makes sense.

Don't rush adding layers. Each one adds cost and complexity. Add them when they solve a real problem, not when you think you should.

Permission to Keep It Simple

Most of this playbook is about doing things well at higher levels of wealth and complexity. It's easy to come away thinking you need it all.

You don't. Not yet.

If you're reading this at £8M with a straightforward situation, a holding company, a good tax advisor, estate documents, and insurance, it is more than enough. It's boring. It's not impressive at dinner parties. But it works.

The founders who do best aren't the ones with the most sophisticated setups. They're the ones with infrastructure that actually fits their situation, and they actually maintain.

Simplicity is underrated in wealth management. Each piece of complexity should justify itself. Usually, it doesn't.

Keep it simple until complexity genuinely makes sense.

Minimum Viable Checklist

By month three:

• Holding company established
• Tax advisor engaged and initial conversation completed
• Estate documents drafted (will, POA, advance directive)
• Assets moved from temporary holding into proper accounts
• Master document created (assets, entities, contacts, documents location)
• Insurance reviewed for major gaps
• Basic cybersecurity in place (hardware keys, separate email for financial)

On an ongoing basis:

• Quarterly check with tax advisor
• Annual review of estate documents and insurance
• Quarterly portfolio review (even if just a spreadsheet check)
• Annual update of the master document
• Whenever a major life event occurs, update documents and talk to a tax advisor

The Point

You don't need a family office at £10M. You need good advice, basic structure, and honest conversation about what matters.

Build the minimum viable setup. Maintain it. Let it breathe.

When complexity actually arrives—when your situation becomes genuinely complex—you'll know. And you'll have a foundation to build from.

Playbook Hub: Running a Family Office Under $100M

Related guides:

• The First 90 Days After Exit
• Pre-Exit Wealth Planning
• Auditing Your Existing Setup
• The One-Page Framework