Does a business founder ever pass their business on effectively?

 Can a business hand off be smooth or are they all some version of bumpy?

The HBO television series, “Succession” aired from 2018-2023 about a patriarch who was trying to figure out how to smoothly pass his business on to a successor.  The success of the show is not an accident.  More businesses are changing hands in the previous 10 years and the next 10 years than any other period in the history of our country. 
 
PowerLink alums usually have a front row seat to every historical aspect of small business….from Y2K meltdown in 1999/2000….to 9/11 and the impact on the economy….to the 2008 mortgage meltdown and recession…to economic explosion of the next decade….to COVID and the global impact on the economy….to the last four presidential elections.  And now succession is top of mind for a lot of our PowerLink companies.
 
Here is what we are seeing: 
(1) Founders wanting to groom key employees to take over the business and prepare them for a day when the founder is in Tahiti and they have to handle a business meltdown
(2) Founders wanting to groom a child or grandchild to take over the business who still needs to learn more about every aspect of the business and has a very different personality than the founder
(3) Founders who want to sell to a third party and spend the needed time to get their business ready to sell and then get lost in the sales process, ignore the business and watch their strong position weaken just when negotiations get serious
(4) Founders who find a strategic third party who seems like a great fit and find out their own employees don’t agree and create a fuss, making it harder to transition smoothly.
(5) Founders who have tried more than one of these strategies, tested the resilience of their staff and lose key staff before ever making a sale.
 
PowerLink has created two solutions for these Founder Transition situations:
 

1. Next Generation Community Advisory Board: facilitated by a veteran Executive in Residence, identified key employees get to learn how to take over the business from the Founder in a private PowerLink community board setting with other key employees from other companies going through a similar kind of transition.  They listen to outside experts, share experiences with each other and basically accelerate their learning and bridging of obstacles through the advisory board. Text or call Erin Woods to talk about this board in more detail.
2. Custom Founder Succession Advisor Board of Directors: facilitated by one of three veteran Executives in Residence, Founders get to identify their key transition methodology, share their fears and issues and then PowerLink recruits a custom advisory board that works with them for the next three years to make the transition more smooth with less fear of key employees leaving.  Text or call Erin Woods to talk about this in more detail.
3. Private 1:1 Coaching: maybe you just want to double in size before you sell….maybe you want to hire a key employee who will eventually buy the business from you.  You don’t want to be in a group setting.  Private 1:1 coaching through this process has proven to accelerate the plan.  Text or call Erin Woods to talk about this in more detail.

 
PowerLink has been serving small businesses and non profits since 1992 and has successfully helped more than 2000 businesses to grow, avoid bankruptcy, avoid closure during COVID, deal with regulatory issues, hire and fire key employees, fire business partners, handle death of a spouse who ran the business and hundreds of other issues that would crush most businesses.  PowerLink provides veteran CEO advisors to help prevent failure. 
 
If you would like to arrange a private meeting to discuss your business issue, text your name and situation to Erin Woods at 724.454.6445


Happy Spring!  A.