Set Up the Next Generation for Success
The transition from one generation to the next isn’t always easy. The shift often happens while the business is growing, while younger family members are learning and while older family members are...
Succession and Estate Planning
How to Cope with Succession Anxiety Disorder
December 10, 2024
Succession is notoriously difficult. I call the angst surrounding the succession process “Succession Anxiety Disorder.” Read more about it!
Your Pre-Succession Checklist
October 10, 2024
Succession is often narrowly framed as the movement of assets like land and equipment to the next generation. While such planning is important, there is more to it than just the movement of assets....
Create your Present and Future Legacy
August 10, 2024
The word “legacy” is primarily used to describe something created in the past that is intended for future generations. But there are also things you can create today that are equally powerful in...
The ABCs of Business Ownership
April 10, 2024
Attitude, Behavior, and Capital are key components of family business ownership.
Manage Your Succession "Workquake"
December 10, 2023
"We don’t have any hobbies; all we’ve ever done is work!” Many readers have heard that phrase—and might have even said it—on more than one occasion. Here's what it means for your succession plan.
Leaving Your True Legacy
September 10, 2023
Of the many things you intend to give the next generation, perhaps nothing has as much potential permanence as the principles and philosophies you leave behind.
Five Priceless Gifts in the Family Business
May 4, 2023
In family-farm and ranch transitions, valuable gifts are an integral part of estate-planning strategies. But another set of gifts have a high value but a comparatively low cost: gifts rooted in...
Life is in the Transitions
April 10, 2023
Life is full of transitions. Bruce Feiler, in his 2020 book “Life Is in the Transitions,” offers tools for many of the transitions in our lives, and those ideas apply to family business succession.
The Double-Edged Sword of Sacrifice
March 18, 2023
As businesses transition from one generation to the next, the type of sacrificial behavior expected, or offered, might change. It’s important to talk about sacrifice and what it currently means to...