A Succession Plan Should Get You Somewhere
A beautifully prepared plan sitting in a folder will never create
a successful succession.
At some point, decisions have to become actions. That may mean taking
a variety of steps, such as:
- Strengthening parts of the business
- Developing people’s capabilities
- Adding to your professional adviser team
- Legally preparing for a transaction
- Restructuring ownership
- Completing a series of steps over several years
And all of this usually happens while you are still running the business.
That is why succession planning shouldn’t stop with deciding what you
might do. It should provide a practical path from where you are today
to the outcome you want to achieve.
How do you accomplish this?
You do it through what we call:
“Top Down, Bottom Up Planning”
Start at the Top
Top Down
Start with the big goals. Then conduct a gap analysis to identify
what is missing and what will be needed to achieve those goals.
That’s the “Top” working down.
Then Work from the Bottom Up
Bottom Up
Now flip the narrative around. Look for the specific, identifiable
things that will allow you to move each of your goals forward. Be
detailed. Think about the logical sequence of actions needed to
bridge the gaps.
→
GAP ANALYSIS
→
SPECIFIC ACTIONS
→
ACCOUNTABILITY
Write it down.
Use it to create an accountability path.
Now you have the tool you need to:
“Make Your Plan Happen.”