Ideally, leaving your family business to children or other family members makes sense, but this is not always a viable option. Remember, your business can succeed without family members inheriting it. If this is the case, it is important to explore options of other successors, from business partners, to employees, or other third-parties.

Many employees value transparency, and, therefore, communicating the realities of your company’s successes and failures is important. By forming open lines of communication with employees, you gain employee buy-in and excitement. Buy-in from senior management is vital as you can leverage them to communicate succession planning with your employees.

It is a good idea to start succession planning as soon as possible. Well thought-out succession plans integrate seamlessly with your organization’s current procedures, and it is always better to be prepared in case you run into unexpected exits that require replacement hiring.