Institutionalisation

Why it mattersA planned transition protects the business, its employees and its value. A business whose operation depends on its founder is worth considerably less to a buyer, a lender or a successor than one that does not, because much of its value would leave with the founder.

You leave withA staged founder transition plan with dates.

Why it mattersProportionate governance, meaning a board or advisory board, clear roles for owners and for managers, and regular oversight, improves the quality of decisions, reduces conflict and builds confidence with lenders, investors and partners.

You leave withA governance structure proportionate to your business.

Why it mattersA capable second line of leadership is what allows the founder to step back, the business to scale beyond one person's span of attention and the business's value to be transferred to a buyer or successor. It is the human counterpart of the systems and processes built in earlier Sections; systems require people who can run them without supervision. It is also the investment that founders most often defer, because developing managers is slow, uncertain and involves tolerating mistakes that the founder could have prevented by doing the work personally.

You leave withA development plan for your management team.

Why it mattersPlanned succession protects the business, its employees and the family. It takes years to prepare a successor, because the capabilities required to lead a business are developed through experience that cannot be compressed. Structuring ownership properly also takes time, and the legal and tax consequences of doing it hastily can be severe.

You leave withA succession plan for leadership and ownership.

Why it mattersContinuity planning protects revenue, customers and reputation during a disruption. It also forces the business to document critical knowledge and to back up critical data, which is valuable in its own right, because it reduces the business's dependence on individuals and on single points of failure.

You leave withA continuity plan for your most critical processes.

Why it mattersA business that can run without its founder is more resilient, because it does not depend on one person's health, availability or judgement. It is more valuable, because its profits do not leave with the founder. And it is more rewarding to own, because the founder is no longer a prisoner of the business's need for them.

You leave withA founder-independence scorecard and a two-year roadmap.