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In the event you’ve constructed a enterprise from the bottom up, it might be troublesome to think about a day while you’re not main it. However eventually, each founder should face a humbling reality: the time will come to step apart and switch it throughout to another person. Whether or not you are passing it on to household, a trusted govt, or a brand new proprietor, the method of succession planning isn’t just necessary, it is important to your legacy.
I’ve made succession planning considered one of my high priorities for the final 30 years. I’ve discovered that the one means you should have an excellent switch is that if there are educated folks in place with a robust plan. It is no shock, as I’ve three sons and three nephews who’ve labored in our firm for a few years. They’re all incomes their means at United Franchise Group. Once I depart, I count on to have a peaceable switch of energy to them.
This is what I’ve discovered concerning the succession course of and how one can handle yours when the time comes.
Begin with the precise mindset
The primary and maybe hardest step is accepting that your successor will deliver their very own concepts to the desk. That is an excellent factor.
Sure, your concepts constructed the enterprise. Your methods and values laid the muse. However the subsequent chief will inevitably see issues in a different way, and they need to. It is not about changing your imaginative and prescient, however constructing on it. You should be okay with the mantra “New chief, new imaginative and prescient.” It does not imply every part has to alter in a single day; it means you possibly can’t run your organization from the grave. You need to let go in some unspecified time in the future.
Determine your successor early
The earlier you possibly can establish the individual or group who will take over, the higher. In case your chosen successor is already a part of your senior govt group, they need to know that you simply’re making ready to go them the baton.
In bigger organizations, one particular person may not be sufficient to shoulder the complete management load. In that case, contemplate splitting the highest position into two, resembling a president and a CEO. Dividing tasks can create a extra manageable transition and permit successors to play to their strengths.
Above all, search for somebody who listens greater than they discuss. An excellent chief is curious, asks considerate questions and listens to the solutions. They need to perceive and respect the corporate’s historical past but additionally be able to rallying the group round a brand new, compelling imaginative and prescient.
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Practice them — and the group — proper
As soon as you’ve got recognized your successor, the true work begins: coaching. Begin early. Do not wait till the final 12 months or quarter of your profession to start making ready your alternative. Ideally, you will have not less than six months to a 12 months to deliver them alongside, however extra time is at all times higher.
Coaching does not cease with the brand new CEO. You will need to additionally spend money on your senior govt group and anybody else with decision-making energy. The purpose is not to protect the corporate as it’s at handoff, however to make sure that the brand new management understands how and why issues have labored. That information provides them a robust start line from which to innovate.
Present them the methods, values and the individuals who drive what you are promoting. Give them context to your selections and invite them to problem your assumptions. Consider it as making ready your organization to thrive with out you. And bear in mind: Be affected person. If extra time is required for a clean transition, take it. A staggered switch of tasks can scale back friction and provides the group time to regulate.
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Put together for the sudden
Even the best-laid succession plans can hit sudden bumps. Your chosen successor may depart the corporate attributable to a well being problem, a change in private circumstances, or just a need to do one thing totally different. Key group members might transfer on. Market situations may change.
That is why flexibility should be constructed into your succession plan. It must be a dwelling doc, not a inflexible directive. Revisit it frequently. Be sincere with your self and your management group about what’s working and what is not. Contingency planning is important for long-term success.
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Writing your subsequent chapter
When you go the enterprise to new management, there’s one final transition: yours, into retirement. Simply as what you are promoting will proceed with out you, you’ll proceed with out what you are promoting.
This time in your life does not should comply with the stereotype and be crammed with golf. There are numerous different issues that may make your subsequent chapter rewarding: touring, checking objects off your bucket checklist, volunteering at your church, or favourite charity. Turning into a mentor to younger executives can even preserve you concerned within the trade you like and allow you to offer one thing again to it.
I have never retired but, however after I do, I am going to know I am leaving my firm in succesful palms — and I am unable to wait to see the place the brand new leaders take it.
In the event you’ve constructed a enterprise from the bottom up, it might be troublesome to think about a day while you’re not main it. However eventually, each founder should face a humbling reality: the time will come to step apart and switch it throughout to another person. Whether or not you are passing it on to household, a trusted govt, or a brand new proprietor, the method of succession planning isn’t just necessary, it is important to your legacy.
I’ve made succession planning considered one of my high priorities for the final 30 years. I’ve discovered that the one means you should have an excellent switch is that if there are educated folks in place with a robust plan. It is no shock, as I’ve three sons and three nephews who’ve labored in our firm for a few years. They’re all incomes their means at United Franchise Group. Once I depart, I count on to have a peaceable switch of energy to them.
This is what I’ve discovered concerning the succession course of and how one can handle yours when the time comes.
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