People & Leadership
Most owner-led businesses have no answer to the question 'what if the owner is not there?'
It might be an illness, an accident, a family emergency, or a planned retirement years away. In most small businesses the honest answer is that nobody is sure: where the passwords are, who can sign, who customers would trust, or whether the family wants to continue. This session does not give legal or tax advice. It helps an owner start thinking about succession in stages, from a bad week to a planned handover, and shows what to take to professionals.
Explore this page6 sections
Succession is not only about retirement. It starts with a bad week.
Most owners think of succession as something for a distant future, and put it off. But the first test is much closer: what happens if you are unavailable for two weeks? A business that cannot answer that is exposed long before it is anywhere near a handover.
The longer-term questions are harder because they involve family, money and relationships. Thinking about them early, calmly and in stages is much easier than having to answer them in a crisis.
Thinking about succession in stages
35 topics across 7 areas. Seven areas, from emergency cover to long-term handover. 6 apply to almost any business; the rest only in a particular case.
Emergency CoverThe first stage, and the one to do now.5
- Who can run the day-to-day if you are away for two weeks
- Who can sign, approve payments and speak to the bank
- Where passwords, keys, documents and contracts are, and who knows
- Who should be told, and by whom, if something happens
- A written note, kept safe, that a trusted person knows how to find
What Is Held WhereA business can depend on more than one name.5
The form matters. A sole proprietorship is not separate from its owner. A partnership firm may be dissolved when a partner dies unless the partnership deed says otherwise. A company or LLP continues as a separate entity, though the ownership interest still has to pass to someone. Confirm how this applies to you with a lawyer or chartered accountant.
- Which assets are in your personal name and which in the business
- Bank accounts, loans and guarantees you have given personally
- Licences, registrations, domain names and key contracts
- Property used by the business, and who owns it
- How the legal form of the business affects what happens next
The Conversations Nobody WantsStart with listening, not decisions.5
- With your spouse or family about what they expect and want
- With children or relatives about whether they want any role at all
- With partners about what happens if one of you leaves or dies
- With key staff about their own plans and ambitions
- With your adviser about what you may need to put in writing
Who Could Lead NextLook widely, and be honest about capability.5
- A family member who wants to lead and has the ability to do so
- A senior employee who could grow into the role
- A partner or co-founder
- A professional manager hired for the purpose
- Selling the business or a part of it, as an honest option
Preparing a SuccessorYears, not weeks.5
- Introducing them gradually to customers, suppliers and the bank
- Giving real responsibility in stages, with room to make mistakes
- Being clear about what you will still decide, and until when
- Making sure the wider team knows and accepts the plan
- Agreeing a review point, and what you will do if it is not working
Family and BusinessIf it appliesWhere the hardest questions sit.5
- Separating being a family member from being an owner, an employee or a manager
- How fairness will be handled among relatives who take different roles
- How family members who do not work in the business will be treated
- Keeping the conversation about the business, not about old grievances
- Bringing in a neutral adviser when the discussion stalls
What to Ask the ProfessionalsPrepared questions get better answers.5
Succession and inheritance depend on the law that applies to you, your family, and the form of the business, and rules change. This session explains how to think and what to ask. It is not legal or tax advice.
- How does the legal form of my business affect what happens if I die or become unable to act?
- Do I need a will, and what does it need to cover about the business?
- How should shares, partnership interests or property pass, and what are the tax effects?
- What documents should my family or key staff be able to find?
- What should be written into any partnership or shareholder agreement?
Try this week
- Write a one-page note: who can run things for two weeks, and where the key information is
- List what is in your name personally and what is in the business
- Choose one person to have a first conversation with about the future
- Book a time to speak to your lawyer or chartered accountant
Signs it has been put off for too long
- Only you know where important documents or passwords are
- Your family does not know how the business is run or funded
- There is no agreement among partners about what happens if one leaves
- Your best employees have no idea about your plans
- You have not had this conversation, and each year it feels harder
How the session runs
The session is a facilitated discussion rather than a lecture. A practitioner or an owner who has been through a handover explains the stages, and participants complete the one-page emergency cover note and the list of questions for their advisers during the session. Participants are not asked to disclose financial or family details to the group. A lawyer or chartered accountant is the right person for advice on wills, inheritance, tax or the structure of a business.
What your students leave with
- A one-page emergency cover note for the next few weeks, if the owner is suddenly unavailable
- A clear view of what is held in the owner's name and what is held by the business
- A first honest conversation list: family, partners, key staff and advisers
- A way to think about possible successors, inside and outside the family
- A short list of questions to take to a lawyer and a chartered accountant
- A first step they can take this month, however small
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Start with the bad week. The longer questions get easier from there.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.