Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/626797
17 Oil Prophets experiences do you need to provide for the next generation of owners before you retire? What's equitable in terms of business ownership when you leave? How and when do you transfer ownership? One key question here is what messes do you, as the current owner, need to clean up? If you made the mess, clean it up before you leave. Leaving your business in a strong financial position with good people who support the organization fully goes a long way to assuring the success of the business in the future. Get the family issues out in the open and cleared up. I've learned that working with family business transitions is 60% business related and 40% family therapy. Unspoken and unaddressed issues in family relationships stand a good chance of scuttling successful transitions. This is where emotion overtakes reason very easily. One key issue here is learning to separate roles. Address these issues at the owner/employee level and not at the parent/child level. As the business owner, it's your job to make sure that the next generation of owners, whoever they may be, goes forward with open communication, collaboration, and mutual support. Have a plan for reinventing yourself after you leave. Many family business owners are reluctant to turn over the reins because it means that they have to face "reinventing" themselves. For someone who has given much of his or her life to the business, this is a scary place to be. Start early to develop outside interests and think about how you want to spend the first six months of retirement…and this does NOT include returning to the business on a periodic basis! Moving a company to the next generation successfully is possible, but it is a challenge. As management guru Peter Drucker once said, "It all boils down to hard work." If You're Part of the Next Generation The time to begin succession and transition planning if you ARE the next generation owner is at the point when you commit to taking the business forward. To give yourself the best shot at success, here are some key questions you might want to ask yourself. Why are you in the business? As the next generation owner, it's important to get clear on why you've chosen to work in the family business. Research indicates that children choose the family business for one of P&MCA recognizes these challenges and is developing a series of programs designed to address the issues of transition and exit strategies for our members from the perspective of both owners and next generation leaders. These two groups, the Legacy Group for owners and a Next Generation group for heirs, will kick off in the Spring of 2016. Instead of the conventional "classroom" learning model with a set agenda, these opportunities will be different. Our aim is to bring together ongoing groups of non-competing members who face similar challenges in their organizations. These "peer to peer" learning groups will focus on education as well as on building the relationships necessary for success. We're asking each group member to commit to building an active learning community that will meet twice a year for three years. Each session will focus on learning something new, learning something from each other, and learning something about yourself. Our intent is that each session be practical and grounded in a specific focus on "at home" application of information and experiences gained in the learning community. The Legacy group will focus primarily on issues relevant to successful transition in the business. While many of these issues will be business and financial in nature, the group will also take a look at the "soft" issues so critical to making the transition from business owner to retiree. Because of the sensitive and private nature of business transition, membership in this group will be confidential. The Next Generation group will focus on issues of leadership development, family dynamics, and successful transition. Membership will be limited to family members who are being groomed to take over the business. Dr. Jan Flynn will be facilitating both the Legacy and the Next Generation groups. A seasoned business woman herself, Jan has spent the last ten years working with family businesses, particularly family businesses in transition. She has successfully designed and implemented peer-to-peer learning groups in the lumber and building materials industry. If you are interested in your family participating in a P&CMA NextGen group, please contact Bart Fletcher at 334-272-3800 or bfletcher@pcmala.org.