The Five Things Your Parents’ Succession Plan Probably Misses and How to Bridge the Gap
Here’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: most succession plans are written about us, not with us.
I see it all the time in the successor community I’m part of. Our parents work with their CPAs and attorneys to create these detailed financial structures and legal documents—which, don’t get me wrong, are important. But then we’re handed a plan that feels like it was designed in a boardroom without anyone asking what we actually want or need.
5 Things Most Business Owners Miss in Their Transition Plan
When I wrote “It’s a Journey” several years ago, we focused on the emotional side and the human side of business transitions because we believe in a people-first concept. Over the years, I’ve worked with hundreds of people to create transition roadmaps, and I consistently see the same pattern: people start with the “how” and the “how much.”
They’re thinking about how much money they could get for their business, whether it’ll be enough, and how to structure everything—the estate plan, the trust, how to manage the money afterward. Don’t get me wrong, those are all important questions. But what most business succession planning strategies miss is the people side of the transition.