Business owners beware: The do-it-yourself approach to business transition has only a 30 percent probability of success, according to research presented in the book, "Preparing Heirs: Five Steps for a Successful Transition of Family Wealth and Values."

That means people and assets are only 30 percent likely to make it into the next generation. What increases that probability of success to a whopping 80 percent? Open communications and a resulting plan on the part of owners who choose to pass the business down rather than sell it.

The reason people blame things on previous generations is that there's only one other choice!—Doug Larson.

For millions of older business owners, the next major event in their lives will be selling or passing on the companies they have founded and grown. In almost every case, that transfer of ownership will be to a different generation.

There has been a lot of talk in the past several years about what to do regarding Baby Boomers.
Will Social Security be sound, in order to help provide for their retirement? Will health care delivery systems be able to meet the growing demand for services for the elderly? Can we adequately house them?

One area which has received little attention is how to deal with Baby Boomers who want to retire and exit from businesses they own, yet do it so it makes financial and psychological sense.

Two local consultants have just released a book on the matter.

There’s more clarity and freedom when a person can look at the future phase of life by planning ahead. What business owners need now more than ever is a vision for the future of the best paths for both themselves and their businesses.

Even before a business owner is actively thinking about transition issues like success and retirement, fatigue and uncertainty can creep in when considering what to do next in life. That's when it can be helpful for the owner to take a sabbatical away from the business to have time and space to truly explore life after work.

Our succession process began without a formal plan. I eventually realized that the do-it-yourself approach had lost traction on both the business and family fronts. Was it too late to create a proactive succession plan?

NO ACCOUNTABILITY.

No time schedules. No decision overloads. No multitasking.

Everything was turned off when I took a four-month sabbatical from my job as president and one of four owners of a financial services firm, Askar Corp.

The stress of running a company of 20 employees had left me feeling tired, burned out and in need of time off.

After 30 years of working in the family business, Jack MacBean felt it might be time to let his son run the company.