Business Succession Planning
When running your business it is very hard not to think of just the here and now. That’s why a quarter of family business shareholders who are nearing retirement have done no succession planning. They may have made a will, but leaving a business is not the same as leaving a summer house or a gold watch.
Succession planning for when you retire, become incapacitated, or pass away is absolutely vital to ensure that your business is handed on to the right people in the correct manner. It’s also about making sure that what you hand over has a chance of continuing your success, of growing – of actually being a valuable asset. Proper, meaningful succession planning for your business is in essence a plan, a set of guidelines and instructions.
It involves many steps and considerations, including:
- Distributing stock and assets
- Life insurance policies
- Dealing with existing agreements such as buy and sell arrangements between partners and heirs
- Division of responsibilities among the successors
- Payment of estate tax
- Reassessing the financial situation of the company
- Communication of the vision, and the changes with the family, key stakeholders and employees.
It is my job to do all this, with your input, in a way that means you can continue to do what you do best – run your business. Only by having a business succession plan in place – and the right business succession plan in place – will you be able to enjoy retirement safe in the knowledge that your pride and joy is going to be in safe hands for years and generations to come.