Do you want to ensure the success and the continuation of your family business?

Does choosing and preparing your children to succeed you at the command of your family business trouble you?

Do you have questions, concerning the choice of the successor in your family business?

Do you believe that none of the candidates is qualified to succeed you?

These questions can be answered, if a founder cooperates with his successor(s) and jointly decide to implement a PROPER SUCCESSION PROCEDURE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.

“Start the succession procedure by taking the Health Test for your family business…”

According to popular belief, the failure of many family businesses is attributed to the following reasons: a) a complex and inhospitable tax legislation, b) lack of a competent successor, c) the children are not interested in the family business and d) the founder is reluctant or hesitates to step down, fearing that he will be pushed to sidelines.

Certainly, these reasons of failure of a succession attempt are credible. We believe that the primary reason of failure is the gap between the perception of the founder, concerning the ideal family business that he wants to perpetuate, and the perception of young individuals in the family business, which they want to run themselves.

That is why we believe that a good, but above all PROPER SUCCESSION, requires the creation of a “new business”, that will be the product of an honest and friendly cooperation between the founder and the future successor.

In this context, the model we adopt and is described and explained in our book, “The Succession Procedure in Family Businesses”, is the “Four Words Model”: Creation, Management, Succession & Continuity, whose implementation helps the family business to materialize our core belief, which is: “Without a good succession, there can be no success”.

In addition, the succession procedure requires the education of both parties involved: the founder/parent and the successor/child. The guidance of young individuals, which is demonstrated in the left side of the chart, refers to the acquisition of knowledge and skills that are necessary for the correct and productive management of the business.

Coaching the founder/elder, right side of the chart, aims to prepare him for the following difficult tasks: a) his disengagement from the daily activities of the business, and, b) the creation of a “new” life outside the business.

However, what is the first step to begin the PROPER SUCCESSION PROCEDURE?

The answer: The evaluation of the “Health Status of the Family Business”.

How is this done? We will find out on the next article…

Dr. Christos E. Georgiou and professor Mr. Asterios G. Kefalas sign this article