Family Business Succession Planning:
A Step-by-Step Strategy for Your Future
Effective family business succession planning helps improve strategic planning, refines the dynamics of management controls, and reduces or prevent conflicts. These are just some of the most critical components to assure the present and future success of your organization.
A well planned succession transition program is fundamental tool. This will provide for a sound strategic structure for the future health of both the family business, and all the involved individuals and families.
There are 4 critical areas that you need to focus on:
First, together we provide a detailed, honest evaluation of the present state of the business, the key personnel, family, and board members. There are both logical, strategic, and emotional components to our analysis. Our plans encompass both the personal and professional realities that every family business must confront.
Next, you need to honestly evaluate and analyze the historical performance, rationales, projections, and budgets in both theory and in practice.
Third, working with the family, we present specific plans and time lines to satisfy the needs of the family, owners and existing management. This help clearly identify priorities and goals of the company to assure a smooth future transition.
The 4th and most critical part of Family Business Mediation processes is a check and balance system. While we work together and collaborate on solutions, we won’t always initially agree. To help you determine the Best Ideas Win, is why we incorporate multi disciplinary professionals strategic thinkers and conflict resolution specialists to craft specific solutions for your family business.
Lastly, unlike most other companies we are a family business ourselves and first hand,we have experienced and understand the real reasons and solutions to truly resolve conflicts. We have been practicing succession planning for 30 years and we guarantee our work.
We have local offices in every state, with no travel time charges. As the industry leader in strategic family business planning, if we have not delivered the services that we have promised, or you are not satisfied after attending 1-3 sessions, up to 8 hours in total, either or the phone or in person, you are entitled to receive your money back in full.
No other firm in the country stands behind their work like we do and offers this guarantee.
Specific Generation to Generation Transitions Plans
- Strategic Business Systems
- Best Ideas Win Programs
- Detailed Succession Plans
- Best Ideas Win Program
- Conflict Resolution Model Program
- Stock Ownership and Control
- Board and Advisory meetings
- Financial and Wealth Management
- Asset Distributions
- Multi-Level Family Trust & Estate Plans
- Money Back Guarantee
- Training, Implementation, Results
In these fast-paced times, family members need to thoroughly communicate, integrate, and understand all of family members perspectives as foundational elements of the future plan. Many families do not understand the indispensable nature of clear succession planning. It is essential that the succession plan is established and implemented well before it is necessary. Running the day-to-day operations of the company are stressful and busy enough. Who has the time to make contingency plans for key personnel? What can make this even more challenging is that key family members often recognize the need for a realistic succession plan before others do and that can lead to conflict.
Legitimate concerns about the future, of the team and the organization can cause direct and indirect issues to emerge throughout the company. Many people do not want to directly face change head-on. It is even more difficult when these changes involve owners, family members, and officers of the company.
Designing and developing the best strategic approach– while relatively straightforward, is often difficult to enact and practice. Making changes at these important levels can understandably cause conflict concern and anxiety. There will be some resistant to the change – others excited for it, but regardless all will have to work together, plan, and communicate with each other for it to be successful.
Under our ‘Best Ideas Win’ approach to problem solving, this is accomplished through private and group meetings to examine the most appropriate decisions and ideas that are particularly suited to your organization. We work with the families, the board/C-level members, managers, and individual staff to ensure the plan is fully vetted – and fully understood.
Just because someone appears to be the next in line does not mean that they are ready to run and organization or a department. Practically, there are few people that could step in and completely fill the shoes of the actual business-founder. They may lack the experience, the entirety of the knowledge; also, their level of commitment or devotion for the company may not satisfy some family members. Even the best candidates or best leaders need the support of those within the organization and often support from outside neutral professionals – which is what we at Family Business Mediation specialize in.
We will assist and advise you through each step of the selection process for evaluating hiring, promoting, and training. Who to choose: an internal or external candidate? The family business succession planning process usually implies that a successor will be chosen from within the family – however, sometimes other solutions need to be considered. Company leaders need vetting, evaluation, review, and approval before they can establish their future role. We offer a management training program to get the management to understand the new business model and what they can expect to change and how it will affect them.
The first step is setting up the initial consultation, which is complementary. The urgency cannot be stressed enough – too often we are faced with high intensity cases where something drastic has happened and they need immediate attention – emotions are high, conflict is ripe; it is quite literally a sinking ship. Calling us before the situation is dire and emergency is always ideal. This allows for the plan developed with the proper care, attention and planning it deserves.
Well before complications arise, all invested parties are able to agree on the best ideas, participate and invest in the actual solutions, and implement a proven guaranteed plan of action, especially by using our trusted network and partners of family business succession planning consultants.
