What is a succession plan?
A succession plan is a written, strategic plan to ensure expertise and culture stay when leaders leave a company. It’s critically important for businesses of all sizes, including small businesses, to outline a succession plan to ensure they can continue to thrive.
Some key parts of a business succession plan include: identifying future leaders to step into critical roles, understanding the company's value, creating a written succession plan, identifying areas for growth, implementing a training and development program for employees, managing risk, and evaluating transition options.
Advantages of having a business succession plan
A business succession plan takes time to develop, but there are clear benefits and few downsides. Some of these include:
Clarity for all involved, including leadership employees, family members, investors, and other stakeholders.
There’s a process for identifying and developing leaders.
Leadership can identify gaps and develop training to address them.
Easier transitions when leadership steps back.
Brand identity stays consistent and clear.
Trust with customers is maintained.
Helps with long-term planning and mitigating risk.
Protects business value.
Disadvantages of not having a business succession plan
Most small businesses – over 60% – don’t have a formal business succession plan. Many leaders admit it doesn’t take priority. However, not having a business succession plan can have the following disadvantages:
Create confusion or disagreements over control and succession.
Family business disputes.
Costly legal battles.
Destabilize existing relationships with clients and customers.
Allow high-level talent to go undeveloped and leave.
The company may lose value.
Possible forced sale, often at a steep discount.
Potential collapse of the business.
Why is business succession planning important?
A business that succeeds long after you’ve left provides lasting value for your family, employees, investors, customers, and other stakeholders.
Business succession planning is key. Some of the reasons small business succession planning is important include:
Continuity: Having a business succession plan for small and family-owned businesses ensures your business can continue without you.
Long-term planning and success: A business succession plan can help you plan for growth, identify areas of concern, and disaster-proof and future-proof your business.
Identifies future leaders: There should be a process in place to identify future leaders, whether you’re looking at internal employees or external candidates. Having the right leadership in place can help ensure business continuity. You’ll also be able to identify gaps and weaknesses that require training and development for employees.
Maintains brand identity: Business succession planning can help identify a successor who aligns with your values and vision. This is critical for maintaining brand integrity and customer trust after you’ve left.
Protects the business’s value: A seamless transition helps protect the value you’ve created in your business. Clear leadership and plans create stability and maintain trust, thus preserving your company’s value.
Key aspects to have in a business succession plan
A business succession plan can be as complex as you want it to be, but at its core, you’ll need the following elements detailed in your business succession plan.
Write out the steps: List what you want to happen when you step away from your role. It should be clear what should happen with new leadership.
Identify priority roles. Take a look at which roles need clear successors and have a list of potential candidates for these key roles.
Plan for nurturing talent: Your top talent should have a succession path that helps them grow and develop.
Business valuation: Knowing your business's value can help you decide on your succession plan, whether you’re planning to sell it, hand it over to a family member, liquidate it, or set up an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).
Written plan and yearly meetings: The plan should be written, funded, and reviewed yearly.
Funding plan: Decide how you’ll fund the plan. Some examples include life insurance, an ESOP, an external line of credit, negotiating seller financing terms, and more.
Standard operating procedures (SOPs): Training materials, handbooks, tax forms, and other important documents should be included in your business succession planning documents.
How to create a business succession plan: A step-by-step guide
A business succession plan involves the following steps.
Step 1: Assemble a team of professionals
Whatever the size of your business, you’ll want to have a team of professionals on your side to lend expertise to help you create a comprehensive business succession plan. These may include a financial advisor, accountant, business valuation expert, insurance advisor, business broker, and more.
Step 2: Determine the value of your business
With a business valuation expert, accountant, industry expert, or other professional, get a number for how much your business is worth. Knowing this number can help you decide which tactics and strategies to use for selling, gifting, and paying taxes on the business.
Step 3: Engage estate and financial planning services.
Financial and estate planning for your personal life can give you a better idea of where to leave off in your professional life. This step can help you determine how much money you may need to withdraw from the business to step away.
Step 4: Consider transition options
Once you have a value and know how much you need from the business to step away, you’ll have options, including inside and outside transitions.
Inside transitions include leaving the business to family, a management buyout, or a sale to employees.
Outside transitions include selling to a competitor or a private equity firm, an IPO, or an orderly liquidation.
Step 5: Prepare early for the transition
Once you know your numbers and have made your plan, you may want to start early, especially if you plan to use tax-efficient strategies.
You’ll want to remove your personal financial guarantees so the business can stand on its own credit. You may also want to reduce business risks by establishing buy-sell agreements with partners and evaluating insurance coverage.
Let your clients and stakeholders know when your management transition plans happen. Your clients should know how you plan to move forward with the transition and how they can continue to trust you with their business.
Business succession planning best practices
Best practices for business succession planning should take into account the following principles:
Start three to five years in advance. With enough time, you may be able to demonstrate to potential buyers that the business is growing. It may also be possible to reduce your tax bill through strategic tax planning.
Know your numbers: A business valuation can help you decide what your options are for business succession. The business may not be at a point where it is sellable, or you may need to make adjustments to get it there.
Seek expertise: Skilled help can handle all the details. Don’t try to do it alone.
Review and adjust annually: Plans (and people) change. Be sure to look at your plan each year and adjust as needed.
Align the plan with the company’s strategic goals: The business succession plan should align with the company's strategic goals.
Business succession tax planning
Taxes play a much bigger part in succession planning than you’d expect. You’ll want to consult with your CPA and financial advisor to look for the best options for your business. In general, some of the tax implications may look like this:
Capital gains: When you sell your company, you may owe capital gains taxes. If you structure the sale as an installment plan, you can spread the liability out over several years. Proper valuation and timing of the sale are also important considerations.
Gift and estate taxes: If your plan is to pass your business and assets to family, you’ll need to start business succession planning early so you don't leave a huge tax bill. You may consider gifting ownership over time or hiring professional advisors to help with more complex trust funds.
Sale structure: Tax treatment is different depending on how the sale is structured. An asset sale may help the buyer with future depreciation, but the seller may pay ordinary income taxes on the sale of certain assets. In a stock sale, capital gains could be triggered for the seller, while the buyer gets the company’s existing tax basis.
ESOP: It may be possible to defer, reduce, or even avoid capital gains by selling your shares to a trust established for your employees.
Bottom line
There’s no substitute for professional financial advice when it comes to business succession planning.
If you’re looking for help to prepare for the future, Unbiased can match you with an advisor to answer all your questions.