Succession Planning relates directly to your ability as a business owner to extract the maximum amount of value from your business when you exit. For small businesses, planning well ahead is even more vital! If you do not have a strategic approach to business succession planning – any value you have been able to build into your business may well retire when you do!

It is clear that a vast number of business owners are not prepared for their succession and will end up making decisions at the last minute, with the likely outcome to be a poor result not only for the business owner, but the clients and staff also. Most business owners go into business not only to earn an income, but also (and perhaps more importantly) to build the value of the business and to sell.

In fact, more than half of all small business owners in Australia plan to use their business as the primary source of funding for their retirement. The average age of family business owners in NSW today is 56 years – so for many, retirement is not too far off. For many owners, the value locked-up within their business is their second largest asset behind the family home, and in some cases it is even more valuable than the family home.

Yet while most people will happily invest time, effort and money planning for the sale of their home, they don’t do the same with their business. Choosing to invest the time and effort to develop a succession plan which ensures that you realise the maximum value from your business when you retire may be one of the most important financial decisions you ever make.