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Protect Your Business With Succession Planning

Protect Your Business With Succession Planning

From small family restaurants to global tech giants, business owners are invested in seeing their company flourish. Having built it up through hours of passion-fuelled work, it’s only logical that you protect your legacy with thoughtful succession planning, keeping your business thriving and on track for whatever the future has in store.

Exploring Succession Planning

Succession planning ensures there’s a strategy in place for when you’re no longer around. Most people think of choosing a person to take over, although succession planning also includes which direction you want your business to go, whether that involves future growth, experimenting with new services or streamlining what you already offer.

Who’s going to guide your business in this time of change? You might choose to pass it on to a co-owner, family member, outside party, or an employee from within the company. Sometimes, business owners set out a plan well in advance, speaking to all the major voices to explain their choice and setting out their hopes for the new direction. Alternatively, you can outline your succession plan in your will, naming your business as a gift in case the unexpected happens.

Choosing The Right Person

The first step of succession planning is deciding what kind of person is best for the company. A dynamic personality and an entrepreneurial spirit are desirable, but what about training, skills and qualifications? Knowledge and expertise in the field makes an ideal candidate for a very small or technical company. For this reason, many people promote employees from within, trusting that their skills and relationships with co-workers and clients will prepare the business for a seamless transition.

Many businesses are run by families, passing the trade from parent to child. When thinking of naming an heir, be sure to think about their practical ability and if they have any actual enthusiasm for what you do – if they don’t, it might be worth passing on the opportunity to someone who can protect your vision, such as a partner, employee or third-party. Even if your heir is motivated, talented and experienced, a stranger showing up and taking over the business can cause some discomfort within the company, so it’s a good idea to discuss your succession planning with senior employees, making sure they feel prepared, confident and consulted.

Considering Family Succession

You may wish for your heir to follow a set pattern, keeping your ideals safe within a Family Charter. Such a document confirms how you want your business to be run, without being legally binding. On the other hand, you might trust your family member one hundred percent, leaving them to try out their own business talent.

As encouraging as that may be, the successor might find themselves surprised and confused, with dozens of questions, so make time to discuss your decision with them before they find out they’ve suddenly inherited a business. They have three main options, from completely taking over to bringing a partner on board or even selling up entirely, so some guidance on which you’d prefer and colleagues they can look to for advice would be ideal.

Succession planning makes provisions for your growing business, but it also prepares your heir to thrive in their new environment!

Our Light Inside

Record your succession planning on our online portal, from general business outlines to the contact details of reliable and supportive colleagues. Should the worst happen, your business strategies are waiting to be sent to your nominees.

Get in touch to enquire about Our Light Inside membership or ask questions by emailing us at help@ourlightinside.com.