Succession of your family business is unique.  Studies have shown that the process of getting to your succession plan and the communication around the planning process defines the end result for your family.  I have worked with two families moving from the 1st generation to the 2nd generation each making progress in different ways and taking different amounts of time.

In the first case, the father continued to hold onto the decision making within the business, leaving the day to day operations to his sons. They never really learned about the strategy development necessary for their business to survive.  In their case, succession has been in progress for 10+ years and will continue.  Unfortunately, the father is now in his 70’s.

In another case, the father stepped away from setting the strategic direction for the business and left that jointly to his two children.  They worked out between them their respective roles and responsibilities.  Problem solving proved to be more successful when the children made the decision and were not told what to do.  The father, instead of being the visionary, became a line worker in the business…just so that he had a place to go regularly throughout the week.  They are only 4 years into the succession process and I would conclude that they are already making great headway to concluding the succession plan.

Embarking on a succession plan is like the explorers of the 15th century.  They did not know precisely what was over the horizon, but they knew that there were riches and interesting times in the unknown and unexplored lands.  Like the explorers, please start your succession trip soon.

Learn, think, apply!