As you get ready to retire or as you craft an estate plan for when you pass away, you know that you want to leave your business to your heirs. You don’t want to sell to a third party, transfer ownership to your business partner or leave the money and assets to your children. You want them to keep running the company for generations to come.
Planning in advance
This can be difficult, and proper planning is the key. To give your business and your family the best chance to thrive, consider these succession planning tips:
- Remember that you do not have to do it all on your own. You can work with a team of legal and financial professionals to make sure the plan is flawless.
- You also don’t have to do it at the last minute. The sooner you can get that plan in place, the better.
- You should talk to your heirs. Find out what they want; the last thing you should do is leave a company to someone who does not want to run it, no matter how good at it they may be.
- If you have multiple heirs, consider what they do best. Give them jobs and tasks that reflect their strengths, even if they are not “equal.”
- Train your heirs once you have those roles determined. The best way to do this is to create a succession plan and then spend years working side-by-side with that successor, teaching them the ropes as you go.
Your company is important to you. So is your family. When both of those areas come together like this, you must know all of the options you have.
Notice: We are providing this as general information only, and it should not be considered legal advice, which depends on the facts of each specific situation. Receipt of this content does not establish an attorney-client relationship.