Succession begins as soon as you, the business owner, have that distant thought formulate in your mind about retirement.

What is retirement?  …as one wise person told me, “Retirement is doing what you what, when you want to do it”.

Within this definition, retirement can look completely different for each person.  The journey to retirement, however, is a process and a path that takes planning and communication.

Planning – who will take over the business?  When will they take over?  How will they take over the business?  When will I introduce the current stakeholders to the concept that I will not be here forever?

Communication – how and when will I communicate my plans / wishes in the conversations in the planning above?

You need to find a trusted person, spouse / friend / business associate / consigliere with whom you can have open and frank confidential discussions around this topic of succession.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-consigliere.htm

Learn, think and apply!

Good luck.