You’ve spent years, possibly decades, building a successful business. A big part of your motivation has always been to create something that would one day allow you to enjoy the fruits of your labour. To live more and spend more time with the people you love.
The big question though is when and how? Perhaps it is still a long way off for you? Maybe it is only a year or two away? Or, is it a case of wanting it to be now but not knowing how to get your business to a point where you can comfortably step back, retire or sell?
You are not alone
Maestro’s recent Pulse of Small Business survey of 100 business owners told us that:
75% know that their business relies on them to keep functioning and running.
84% want their business to be more profitable.
68% work more than 40 hours a week.
It is never to soon or too early to start succession planning
As your business grows, succession planning becomes more and more important. The more people you have, the more reliant your business is on you to manage them, and them to keep it functioning.
Succession planning is not just about planning for you to leave the business, it is about ensuring your business has the talent and skills it needs to continue operating should any of the key people leave with little or no notice.
It is about having the right people in your business, knowing who your next level of leadership is and grooming and developing them for it.
It doesn’t happen by accident. It takes planning and strategy. It provides many rewards – for you and your staff. It gives your team certainty and provides them with a pathway for development. It provides you with greater freedom and flexibility, along with the confidence and ability to step back, let go of reigns and start enjoying some of the fruits of your labour.
Succession planning for your business
The process for succession planning very much depends on the characteristics of your business – from its ownership structure, to size, systems, staff and of course the owner’s personal goals and objectives.
If there are multiple owners in the business, you all need to come together to:
- Achieve clarity on what each other’s goals are – personal and financial.
- Create a shared vision for the future, that will allow each of you to achieve your goals.
- Identify the steps that need to be taken to allow that vision to be achieved.
- Prioritise those steps and the issues that need to be addressed to allow them to be achieved.
If you are the sole owner, the process is much the same – you need to be clear on each of these things in order to progress your succession planning.
The next step requires you to:
- Identify the critical roles in the business – the leadership roles along with those that would prevent your business from functioning well if no one was doing them for more than a few days.
- Be clear on the key responsibilities, requirements, skills and personality characteristics needed to perform each of those roles.
- Identify people in your team who have those characteristics and the potential to take on a leadership position.
- Develop those people so that they are ready to step up to the plate when the time comes.
- Put in place the processes, systems and structures that are needed to support and maintain those functions.
While this all sounds like a lot of hard work, it is something that is very worthwhile doing. A well thought out and managed succession plan devised now will allow your business to function more effectively and protect it from unexpected losses of key people. It will also allow you to begin enjoying the fruits of your labour, in the way you want to.
Need help making it happen?
Succession planning is one of our sweet spots. We love working with business owners to help them make their business more rewarding – personally, professionally and financially.
If succession planning is something you should be doing, the Maestros are here to make it happen.