Business Continuity Plans are complex and encompass many essential components. In addition to understanding the value of your business and the necessity of having a plan for how your business will look after you step down, it's important to find someone you trust to take over for you. This can be a huge decision, especially if you've built a name for yourself in the marketplace – it could be your reputation on the line! Even if you don't plan to leave your business for many years, identifying potential successorsnow can be very beneficial, especially if you're running a family company.
So, let's think about the following:
- Is there someone in your family who can lead the business based on age, temperament, experience, and skills?
- Are they interested in the business and willing to take over?
- Do you trust them to continue to run and build the business successfully?
If you can answer "yes" to all the above questions, keeping your business in the family may be an option. But if the honest answer to any of these questions is "no," then it may be better to sell your business to outsiders.
Who are the potential buyers if you plan to sell outside the family? Do you have co-owners? Is there a key employee, or even a group of employees, who would be interested in buying the business? Are there competitors who may want to grow their business by purchasing yours? It's worth it to think about these questions now so you can begin cultivating the necessary experience among family members or build relationships with outside contacts.
Give it some thought, and let's connect if you need to kick around thoughts and ideas. We’ll be sharing one final helpful tip about buy/sell agreements, so watch for that in the future.