“Who is going to run my business after me?”
If you are like many business owners, you may be thinking about transitioning business leadership. You have this baby that you’ve created–who is going to care for it once you’ve stepped down? You may be planning to transition leadership to somebody in your family or someone who currently works in the business. Are they going to drop the baton? Are they going to grow the business? Let it stagnate? Die? How involved do I want to be once the transition has occurred? These are questions that swirl around in business owner’s minds and rightfully so.Passing the baton
One of the most intense moments of any track relay is passing the baton. In a 4×100 relay, there’s a 20-meter area called the “changeover box” where relay runners pass the baton to the next runner. I often tell business owners to plan for a long changeover box when transitioning the leadership of their business. The process of transitioning or even selling a business is a long one. And the planning has to start early. When transitioning leadership, you want to make sure your planning and transition is proactive, not reactive. A few questions to think through include:- What is your company worth?
- How involved do you plan to be after the transition?
- When do you want the transition to occur?
- If transitioning ownership to several parties, what is the best way to do that?