Succession plan
A succession plan sets out who will lead and own a business after the current owner steps back, how the transfer is funded and what happens if plans change
A succession plan is a written plan for transferring leadership and ownership of a business from its current owner to a successor, whether a family member, a management team or an outside buyer. It names the successor, sets a timeline, describes how the successor will be prepared, how ownership will transfer, how the exiting owner will be paid and what happens if illness, death or a change of mind interrupts the plan.
Leadership and ownership rarely transfer at the same time. A successor may run the business for years while the owner keeps the shares, or shares may transfer gradually through a buy-in. For BC family businesses the plan also has to address fairness among family members in and out of the business, which is usually the hardest conversation and the reason plans are postponed until a crisis forces them.
In practice a succession plan starts with a valuation, so the transfer price and any equalisation among family members begin from a real number, and with honest conversations held separately and together. Your lawyer and CPA handle wills, trusts, shareholder agreements and tax. We facilitate the decisions, assess the successor's readiness, structure the funding and keep the plan reviewed. Where no successor exists, the succession plan becomes an exit plan and, in time, a sale.
Start with a confidential conversation.
Tell Ali where the business is and what you want to happen next. You leave with a straight read on value, timing and the two or three moves that matter, whether or not we work together.