You’ve spent most of your career building your business to be your legacy. You’ve reached a pinnacle, feeling secure in the knowledge that you’ve laid the cornerstone for future success.
So how can you ensure that legacy stays intact? Succession planning.
For many business owners, succession planning can be an uncomfortable topic to engage in, because it’s often associated with mortality or worse, loss of control.
Our advice? Put aside the discomfort and make a plan. That way, you have time to consider possible successors and invest in either training or hiring to fill critical skill or knowledge gaps.
Think of succession planning as a business will
Preparing for your departure — whatever the reason — can save your loved ones (either involved family heirs or your employees) from having to make up their own roadmap as they learn to drive.
Continuity is not accidental. It also signals to any investors or shareholders what the intention is for the direction of the company.
Without a well-structured, formal succession plan in place, you’re risking:
- Unprepared or unsuitable leadership
- Disputes for control/direction of the company
- Unnecessary legal fees and protracted proceedings
- A reshaped or ignored company vision
- Financial instability
- Inability to retain/recruit top talent
A pre-emptive consultation with a qualified CPA can help to alleviate most corporate headaches and reorganizing pains that can arise during a leadership change. Otherwise, it can be a protracted, contested tangled mess of lawyers and more CPAs, costing your company far more than if you planned a smooth exit.
And nobody wants that for a legacy.