Keeping a Business Running Without Family Succession

The recent study of small businesses by U.S. Bank focused on succession planning for small businesses. As more than half of small business owners are less than 10 years from retiring, the group looked at how business owners were contemplating their business’s future.

It was no surprise that the most common answer is that business owners want their children to take over the family business, but it also showed that there are other options for business succession than just the immediate family. 

Other choices included:

• Transition their business to a family member other than their children. (10 percent)
• Gift their business to someone when they retire. (10 percent)
• Sell their business to someone outside of their organization or family. (10 percent)
• Sell their business to a current colleague or business partner. (nine percent)
• Transition their business ownership to their employees. (eight percent)
• Dissolve their business when they retire. (seven percent)

Unfortunately, only 30 percent of small businesses survive after the founder ends their involvement in the business, showing the need to determine how to continue long before the need to transition arises.

But if the business owner doesn’t have children, or those children do not want to take over the business, there are options. 

The attorneys at The Orlando Law Group specialize in helping businesses structure their succession planning in Orlando, Sanford, Winter Garden and Kissimmee and are here to help set up the tools and programs that can keep your company running for generations.

Is there an outside buyer for the company? 

One of the most common ways for a founder to transition out of a company is to sell the company to an outside buyer, whether it is a larger competitor or someone just looking to enter the business.

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