Succession within family business has been compared to the analogy of a plane in flight. The most dangerous time is at take-off and landing! Succession is like landing and taking off again with a new pilot at the controls! 

Every year 450,000 businesses EU wide are transferred, representing the transfer of leadership for more than two million workers, even more following the pandemic. Succession is not an event it is a process with two objectives:
•    To prepare the business for succession
•    To prepare the successors for future leadership

 

Few people appreciate the demands and pressures of being the owner / manager and leader of a family business. The role is a way of life, rather than a job or profession, it means both a total personal and professional commitment. 

To lead a family enterprise through both good and bad times and, from creation through survival to success and eventually succession, is a major leadership challenge.  Choosing the right successor is therefore key.

 

The goal of our practical handbook, full of case studies, practical tools, and challenges, is to take the complex subject of succession and make it accessible and practical for action. The handbook takes the reader through the five layers of succession and helps him/her retain control through the design a succession strategy that is just right for your business. You will also identify the 5 Rights for choosing a successor:

• Right Person 

• for the Right job 

• at the Right time 

• with the Right attitude 

• and Right skills

 

This handbook is designed with you in mind, the leader of a family business. At the end of the relay race of “passing the baton” down the generations you will leave the business in a better condition than you found it, ready for succession. Your family will remain united to be true to the legacy of the business founder(s) and fully supportive of the business through this crucial period. Each family member and senior manager knows his/ her role, and together they are committed to the journey. 

The business will remain a place of happiness and confidence in the future. Personal and collective commitment to secure the future success of the family business will be assured.
 

You can read and/or download SPRING's practical handbook on Family Business Legacy and Succession here.