It can take a lifetime to build a successful business. However research reveals that many founders literally throw their life's achievement away by failing to plan adequately for succession.
“Tomorrow may be too late”. Serious illness, disability or death can catch a firm by surprise. A crisis such as this brings great upheaval, and it is difficult to make rational decisions in the best interests of a company when emotions are running high. That is why Hailston + Co will assist you to develop and implement a well-thought out succession plan which is essential to the continuation of a business, no matter what its size and structure.
Like a well-run relay race, the Succession Planning - handing over of a company should be graceful, carefully planned and well executed if it is to be successful.
Hailston + Co believes succession planning should be planned as a process occurring over time during which business owners or when family business, a family plans for the transfer of knowledge, skills, labor, management, control and ownership of a business between the founder (retiring) generation and the successor (next) generation.
Your succession plan should contain the following:
- Statement of the distribution of ownership
- The identity of the new leader or leaders
- How the new leaders are to be trained for their roles
- Definition of the roles of other key members of the business during the transition
- Method for the purchase or sale of business
- Taxation and legal considerations
- Financial considerations
- Retirement considerations
- Procedure for monitoring the process and dealing with disputes and problems
- Timetable.