RLB Blog

When you started your business, you had a vision, goals and dreams. As your business grew and changed, a strategy and plan evolved. Whether these plans were formal or highly informal, you had some sense of the direction you wanted your business to take. All too often, exiting your business doesn’t get that same attention. It can be easy to put off succession planning for a myriad of reasons; however it is important to create an adaptable plan and get everyone (family, partners, and key employees) on board. This will help to maintain the value of the business, maximize your retirement fund and protect your legacy.

Should you have a succession plan? The simple answer is YES! Succession is a word that is often used, but what does it really mean? A complex and confusing topic, it lingers as the unspoken part of business planning, too large to tackle, genuinely the elephant in the room.

In the romantic comedy classic “You’ve Got Mail”, Tom Hanks’ character owns a book selling superstore that puts Meg Ryan’s small bookshop out of business. In response he says “It wasn’t …personal” and implies it was just business. Meg Ryan’s character responds “All that means is it wasn’t personal to you. But it was personal to me…….Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.”

Small business drives the Canadian economy. December 2012 Industry Canada statistics indicate there were 1.1 Million businesses in Canada. Seventy five percent of these businesses (830,000) had less than 10 employees. Eighty seven percent had less than 20 employees. Based on our experiences building our own businesses and observing and helping clients build theirs, we have outlined 5 keys to small business success.