In North America, sixty percent of small business owners do not have a formal succession plan, while 41 percent would permanently close their doors if they cannot find a buyer. Many aging small business owners are planning to retire over the next 10 years, according to new data from the 2026 Zelle Small Business Pulse Report. 1
Almost half (49 percent) of small business owners over the age of 50 say they will exit within the next decade. Similar trends are unfolding across the broader workforce, with the share of North Americans aged 55 and older working at the lowest level since April 2005. Older entrepreneurs, meanwhile, could face a series of obstacles as they plan to take it easy in their golden years and hand the reins to the younger generation. Sixty percent of small business owners do not have a formal succession plan, while 41 percent said they will permanently close their doors if they cannot find a buyer. 2
Here is how you can empower the Process of Business Succession
It is clear that a succession problem arises where no plan exists. Sixty percent of small business owners do not have a formal succession plan. Here is how to resolve this:
- Establish appropriate forums. Family retreats and regular meetings can help the family discuss issues that promote the continuation of a profitable family-run company.
- Develop teams and design tasks. Select the most promising successor candidates to test their mettle. Include all the constituent players: the owner(s) and spouse(s); the owner’s children (including nieces or nephews) who are involved in the business or are shareholders; key executives; and, once the successor is chosen, the following professionals:
- Hire a Corporate tax accountant. to value the business and assess capital gains tax liability, and to recognize if an estate freeze makes sense. Have the company’s financials been explained to the successor?
- Use a Corporate lawyer. To install buy-sell and share redemption agreements, to advise all parties of various legal risks, and assess all historic agreements to see if they need to be changed in light of the succession.
- Use a Succession consultant. These specialists can consult and quarterback the sessions through the entire planning process, keeping it on track.
- Utilize the skill of an Insurance specialist. There are various insurance solutions to mitigate succession planning risk. Give us a call if you would like to look at how life insurance, to remove business debt, and key man insurance can resolve many problems.
| There can be no real communication without a reciprocity of ideas.— Ernest Holmes |
Select the Right Successor
- Look for leadership skills. Selecting the right successor is vital to a company’s continued success. The most suitable candidate will probably have leadership potential made obvious by willing and capable followers; care for employees; decisive self-confidence; ability to plan strategy and deliver on promises; amiable interaction with peers and colleagues; integrity; ability to inspire others with a vision; skilled at listening to others and can resolve conflicts; and holds others accountable, encouraging them to meet the company’s objectives.
| Man does not simply exist, but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment. — Viktor Frankl |
Ask yourself, “Whose destiny is it?”
- Understand limiting paradigms. Some parents believe that the business was developed for a certain child. But perhaps this child has his/her own alternative career dream. If a son or daughter is bribed or cajoled into becoming a successor, hard feelings may arise later when the realization of lost opportunity to be an artist, a doctor, or a zoologist sets in.
From the beginning, try to find a contingent successor, as no one knows what the future may hold—change is part of life.
1 2026 Zelle Small Business Pulse Report.
2 Perman, C. (2025, October 9). Employee ownership can help weather the “silver tsunami.” Harvard Business School.