Recommendations for Family Business Succession Planning
"Assemble a high-quality and experienced succession team including a facilitator, accountant, attorney, investment adviser and key family members.
All dynamics of the family business succession are interdependent, so use a facilitator that understands all of them.
Align the company's structure for compatibility with the overall goals of the family.
Assess the ability of aspiring family successors and build a training curriculum that prepares them for the responsibilities they will assume.
Make sure key managers are locked in to assist family successors with the transition.
Build financial independence from the business so you do not hold on too long.
Make sure family members understand what you are trying to do. Secrecy is a killer.
Building a succession plan typically takes three steps. In the first, the business undergoes an overall assessment to identify problems and opportunities that need to be addressed in a comprehensive succession initiative. Next, develop a compatible plan and make a commitment to implementation. And, finally, remember that succession planning is a process, not a project. Make a commitment to ongoing maintenance and refinement of the plan. "
From this Orlando business Journal article.
