Small Business Toolbox

A library of business management info


Succession Planning It's rarely an easy question: Who will carry on your business when you're gone? Many owners neglect to answer it at all. But a well-done success plan provides stability for your employees and a sense of longevity that may even help you win more business in the short term.
  • Is it Time to Sell Your Business?
    01/29/2008
    Your business hasn't made the money you thought it would. Or the opposite is true: Your business has been lucrative beyond your wildest dreams and buyers are chomping at the bit to take it off your hands. Maybe you're itching to spend more time with your family and friends and your heart just isn't into it anymore. Perhaps you've hit the age you planned to retire by, so that's that.
  • Developing a Succession Plan for Your Small Business
    01/16/2008
    Turning over control of your company to someone else. It may be the last thing you want to think about. As much as you may dislike the idea—and disliking it is a common response—developing succession plans is absolutely necessary for any small-business owner who wants his company to outlast him. And it's your obligation as well, says Francie Dalton, president of Dalton Alliances Inc., a management consulting company located in Columbia, Md.
  • MyVoice: Killing the Death Tax
    05/26/2006
    In 2001, Congress set the death tax on a path to total repeal in 2010. However, the tax returns to its full 55 percent in 2011 if the law isn't made permanent.
  • Why Consider Succession Planning?
    04/12/2006
    Succession planning refers to the ongoing development of potential successors to ensure a smooth transition and minimum loss of efficiency when management vacancies occur. Why consider succession planning? Often, the reasons for doing so are evident whenever a management position remains open for a few weeks or months.
  • Secure the Future of Your Small Business With an Estate Plan
    10/06/2005
    If you are a small-business owner, and you die, what happens? If you haven’t left a similar plan of action, called an estate plan, the lives of your loved ones will be thrown into turmoil.
  • Succession Strategies for Family-Owned or Closely Held Businesses
    12/28/2004
    Running a family-owned or closely-held business is a challenge. It is difficult to keep it up and running. Forty-three percent of family-owned businesses will pass from one generation to the next, thirty percent of those will survive the second generation and less than 15 percent of those will successfully pass to the third generation.
  • Succession Strategy: Plan in the Beginning or Risk Losing in the End
    03/23/2004
    Many financial and strategic management experts believe that planning a succession strategy or dissolution strategy for a partnership is just as important as planning for the growth of a new company.
  • Plan Now for Company Growth
    12/08/2003
    What direction is your company heading next year? If you're not quite sure -- or uncertain of the right course to get there - it is time to determine a solid strategy for your business.
  • Secure the Future of Your Business
    09/23/2003
    When it comes to your business, hoping for the best won't ensure its future.
  • A Business Succession Plan Can Go a Long Way
    06/11/2003
    A business succession plan is a comprehensive look at the estate planning picture that can include everything from shareholder buy-sell agreements to management plans.
  • The Succession-planning Preparedness Quiz
    10/01/2002
    Effective succession planning involves building the value of the business during your period of ownership and management, and having a plan in place when you are ready to step down.
  • Creating a Long-Term Plan, Part I
    04/01/2002
    How long do you think your company will exist? Few of us will be around in 100 years, of course, but it's likely that some readers of this Workshop already have created businesses that will still be around in the year 2101, and beyond.
  • Creating a Long-Term Plan, Part II
    04/01/2002
    Today's Workshop, by contributor Jeffrey Moses, continues last week's discussion on how to plan for your company's longevity.
  • Preparing a Successor for Your Business
    03/12/2002
    The most important issue in the finding, grooming and training of a successor for your business is to start early.