When business owners prepare to transfer their companies—whether to family members, key employees or an outside buyer—most of the planning revolves around You – the owner.
And maybe your leadership team.
That makes sense. There are financial decisions to make, tax considerations, legal strategies and a new ownership structure to establish.
But there is another group whose future matters enormously to the success of your transition: the people who will still be there, running your day-to-day operation after you are gone.
Your employees.
The day your business transfers, they suddenly have a new boss. They wonder whether the culture they love will survive. They worry about their jobs, their benefits and the relationships they have spent years building. They’ll be frustrated by new expectations and an entirely different set of rules imposed by people they do not yet know or trust.
At the same time they might be excited about the possibilities— maybe this gives them the opportunity for a new role, or additional resources and the chance to become part of a larger organization.
They’re excited and terrified at the same time.
If your best people leave during or shortly after the transition, much of the value you worked so hard to build can walk out the door with them. Don’t leave their commitment—or your organization’s continuity—to chance.
Whether your exit is one year, five years or even 15 years away, you need three things. Your team should be actively involved in two of them.
1. Build a Business That Is Truly Transferable
A transferable business can operate successfully without you.
Not mostly without you. Not “as long as you’re available for an occasional question.” Truly without you.
That means no calls, no text messages and no quick approvals. No one asking where a critical file is, what price to quote or whom they should contact at your largest customer. Your team has the systems, information and confidence to handle those decisions themselves.
This doesn’t happen the day before you leave. It happens when you intentionally strengthen your systems, develop your leaders and begin transferring responsibility long before ownership changes hands.
When your employees can run the business without you, they become more confident in their ability to lead it into the future. They step up because you have given them the authority and the responsibility to do so.
You gain something important, too: more freedom today and a more valuable, attractive business when you are ready to transfer it.
2. Create a Succession Plan With Your Team—not Just for Them
A succession plan is more than a document naming the person who will take your place. It is a five-year roadmap for you, your team and your company.
People leave organizations when they don’t see a future with you. A thoughtful succession plan makes that future visible.
It identifies the roles your employees can play, the skills they will need to develop and the opportunities that may open as responsibilities shift. It also clarifies where you need to hire, promote or strengthen your leadership bench.
People support what they help create. When your employees have a voice in your Succession Plan, they are more likely to understand it, believe in it and take ownership of making it work. Instead of feeling that the transition is happening to them, they become part of building what comes next.
3. Assemble the Right Exit Team
Building your professional exit team is primarily an owner-level responsibility.
A successful transition requires coordinated guidance across 5 disciplines. Depending on your situation, your team will include your Coach, (M&A) Attorney, CPA, Financial Advisor with and Exit Planning Designation, a Valuation Expert, your Banker and a Business Broker.
Your business coach serves as your quarterback—helping you identify the right advisors, keeping everyone aligned, ensuring that the financial, operational, and human sides of the transition support the same outcome, and keeping your team calm, focused, and excited.
A successful transfer means that what you’ve built can live on for 100 years. Your company will continue to perform, your best people choose to stay, the culture retains what made it special and you get to step into your next chapter knowing the business is ready to thrive without you.
Your employees may not be sitting at the closing table, but they will play an enormous role in determining whether your transition succeeds after the papers are signed.
Bring them into the process early. Give them clarity, a voice and a future they can see themselves in.
If you’re wondering how transferable your business really is—or whether your team is prepared for the future you envision—a conversation now can help you uncover the gaps while you still have plenty of time to address them. Get started with a Succession Readiness Scorecard – free to you as a Benefit Works client. https://www.
You’ll leave with clarity and your first couple of steps to take.
Susan Thomson owns ActionCOACH Business & Executive Coaching. Imagine a team that can take you from the
chaos and stress of running your business to making more money, growing your team, and gaining freedom!
MakeMoreWorkLess.ActionCOACH.com
608-441-374