Succession Planning Blindside: 68% ownership, 25% leadership quandary
In a recent article of the Australian on-line magazine AdelaideNow, 68% of family busineses have owners ages 50+. Two thirds said NO family members had an interest in taking over the business. Amazingly, only 25% said they considered succession a "problem". How can this be considered leadership?
What were they THINKING? Can owners in the US and elsewhere be much different? I rather doubt it.
At the Successful Transition Planning Institute (STPI), we call this attitude the "R&D method" of transition planning: "Repress and Deny".
Simply put, EVERY business owner will exit their business someday. They have two choices:
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plan for it on their terms
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let others plan it for them
Having been a business owner, I know that owners like control. Yet the fear of dealing with the inevitable, as well as the unknown, causes too many to simply default to "I'll plan for that later" (really never). There is even a subset that won't plan for it to "prove" that "only they" could run the business properly. If the business fails after they're dead, it somehow affirms their "leadership". This attitude is simply pathological and may leave a trail of financial ruin in the owner's wake.
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About the author:
Paul Cronin is partner and Director of Business Development at STPI, the Successful Transition Planning Institute of Cambridge, MA. STPI trains advisors to the show owners how to "Think", "Live" and "Decide" what to do with their companies and plan for a dynamic, new life. Paul can be reached at 978-749-9546, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Google+, or by clicking contact us:
For more information, visit STPI, or see this video.
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The Successful Transition Planning Institute of Cambridge, MA teaches Baby Boomers and their advisors how to avoid boring, meaningless retirements. STPI's books, tools, training and seminars empower Baby Boomers to "Think", "Live" and "Decide" what to do with their companies and careers. By doing so, Baby Boomers create plans for dynamic new lives, full of meaning and purpose. (see video).