Family Business Succession Articles Archives

“More, or “Meaningful”?

by Jon Kenfield MBO (Note: this is my personal, unauthorised take on what somebody else said). James E Hughes Jr. is a US attorney and the author of several highly influential books about preserving and enhancing family wealth. Hughes postulates that while financial capital provides practical support for multi-generational families, their true wealth lies in […]

Succession Plan – It’s a Once in a Generation Process, so you better have a Plan

Family business succession should be a process and not an event, because to have any reasonable prospect of success, it needs be planned and executed over a sensible period of time, like any other complex project. 4 Stage Succession Planning Process The following diagram summarises the individual process stages that make up a comprehensive succession […]

Succession Disputes – As if there weren’t enough challenges already

Succession is the process of generational transfer of ownership / leadership / management / employment from one generation to another. Standard wisdom is to make this a process, not an event, preferably over a period of years. Succession usually gains attention when there are reasonably valuable assets involved. And family personalities and relationships are often […]

Business Succession Planning – It’s not “if”, it’s “when?”

One of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard about business succession planning came from Giuseppe (not his real name) who declared that he didn’t need to worry about succession planning for his business because he wasn’t planning to retire any time soon. Giuseppe was 79 years old! He had four sons working in his […]

Successful Successions in Family Business

Business Succession involves the transfer of Ownership, Leadership, Management and (sometimes) Employment, from one generation to another. The succeeding generation can be within the family, or not. The objective is to transition the business from one generation to the next, so it can survive and be renewed. Family Succession is another thing entirely, although the […]

Difficult Older People & Behaviour Change

We’re seeing increasing numbers of older business owners struggling with the fundamental concept (let alone the required actions!) of family and business succession, and with the challenges of “refiring, not retiring” – as they contemplate living for many years after “finishing” their main work. That work has often been at the centre of their lives, […]

10 Wisdoms for Successful Succession

The succession process has been fraught with issues and complications since biblical times. It’s been the subject matter of stories and dramas for as long as we’ve had the recorded word, and will undoubtedly continue to do so. When a business is also involved, the stakes ramp up enormously because, as well as personal and […]

Do “fossilised” owner/parents threaten the survival of their own family businesses?

An increasing number of family business owners are now past their best decision-making days. With many over 70 years of age they are fossilising on the job, risking the survival of their businesses and families, and the jobs and families of the employees who depend on them. This is not a criticism of what they’ve […]

Succession – are we missing the point of the economic challenge?

I think we’re missing the point. I’ve just attended, and presented, at yet another seminar on “Succession Planning” where, as usual, almost everyone talked about: maximising the value of the business for sale; tax and asset structures; insurance; financing the deal and buy/sell agreements. Don’t get me wrong – they were all good sessions – […]

Practice Succession: passing on a legacy, or just selling-out?

A tale of two practices … In 2011 the first Baby Boomers reach 65 – the traditional retirement age for western males. The Boomer generation’s enormous energy, fed by aspirational consumerism and decades of relative peace and prosperity, spawned an explosion of entrepreneurial businesses and professional practices. Many of the owners and leaders of these […]