Choosing A Successor For Your Business

Handing over management of your business to someone else is a big step to take. It’s essential to find someone who you trust is capable of taking the reins. Just who will this successor be? This post lists a few possible options. 

Hire within

Many business owners will first consider their employees. It’s possible that there is already someone working for the company who has a management role and who has been loyal for many years. They could make a great successor because a) you won’t have to provide as much training, b) they will already understand the company culture, and c) your other employees will already know them and see them as a leader. 

Put the idea to them first. If they say ‘no’, consider if there is anyone else in your team who would be a good candidate. It’s possible that there could be a hardworking and loyal employee working for you who is not currently a manager, but who you believe could quite easily rise to the challenge. This employee will take longer to train, but could otherwise be a great choice. Alternatively, there could be multiple employees who you believe could fill your shoes. In this case, you should ask each employee – if more than one employee is eager to take over, you may want to find a way of testing each of them. 

Keep it in the family

If you own a family business, it’s possible that you may want to hand it over to your kids or another relative. A family member could make a great successor because they are likely to be loyal and share common values. Your business can also become part of your family legacy. 

Ideally, you should choose a family member who already works for your business and understands how it works. If this is not the case, you will need to first let them have some experience to see if they are competent and truly up for the task. Be wary of how family conflicts could impact your succession plan – you don’t want personal issues to get in the way. You also need to make sure that non-family employees do not view the decision as ‘favouritism’ – choosing an inexperienced family member to take over your business instead of an eager loyal employee could result in resentment from your employees.

Recruit a successor

Another option could be to recruit an employee who you plan to promote as your successor. Such an option could be necessary if there is no-one currently in your team or no family members who are suitable for the job.

Hiring a new recruit means that you will have to spend more time training them up. However, by running a thorough search, you may be able to find someone who already has management experience and who is a fast learner. When hiring them, you need to be sure that they are willing to take on the challenge of taking over your business. It could be worth working with a specialist recruiter like CJPI who can headhunt the best talent.

Sell your business

Another option is to sell your business to a new potential business owner. This is a way in which you can get money for your business. However, it typically means being prepared to cut ties with your business after.

Finding someone willing to buy a business is not easy, but there are people out there who will be up for it. These are usually people who already own businesses or have owned businesses in the past, and are looking for a way to expand their current business or run a new business without having to build it from the ground up. There are companies that specialise in selling businesses and finding buyers. This post offers more information on selling a business.

*This is a collaborative post.