Family businesses often have no real plan for how the next generation will realize benefits as successor owners and leaders.

Many succession problems can be avoided or mitigated if family businesses plan for succession, rather than wait until “the last minute”, when options may be more limited. Regardless of when a business thinks a changing of the guard will take place, it’s important to always have a plan ready for that eventuality, since unforeseen circumstances can cause a sudden need for new leadership.

Family business succession planning must take account of countless unknown future circumstances and current facts that are continuously changing and interacting, including business factors like the economy, the regulatory environment, and the state of the market in which the business operates, as well as family factors like family dynamics and the changing skills, maturity, career objectives, economic needs, and health status of individual family members.

Under these circumstances of pervasive uncertainty and complexity, it is understandably difficult for family business owners to comprehend how they could construct a proper business succession plan. However, Swaim, Carlow & Ames, P.C. can help provide an organized, logical, step-by-step outline for succession planning.