The Importance Of Succession Planning To Any Business

To run a business is all about planning. It is fine to live in the moment, yet it is also necessary for you to consider both the past and possible future events. Succession planning can be surely considered a future event which all businesses have to consider or face disaster.

 

What is succession planning? Well, it is simply a plan put in place that recognizes the business should outlast the key people running it. The classic example used by financial planners is the business that is family owned. The parents often want to pass it down to a child or children. Doing so makes sense logically, but there are a host of tax issues involved. Planning for them is critical.

 

What happens if you don’t plan for the succession of the business? Well, the Miami Dolphins are a good example. They and the beautiful stadium they play in were owned by a gentleman named Joe Robbie. He had a large family and was very successful. Despite having lived a long life, he never planned for his passing on. When he passed away, estate and income taxes kicked in along with the acceleration of certain contracts that he had personally guaranteed. His estate did not have the cash on hand to deal with the taxes and debts. As a result, it was forced to sell the team and stadium among other assets for a song. The massive figures paid in taxes need not have been paid if succession planning had been done.

 

The Robbie situation is well known because of the assets involved. One just doesn’t see an NFL team sold off to pay taxes every day. The underlying problem, however, is a common one that occurs in the business world practically every day.

Otherwise profitable businesses are left in shambles or sold off for pennies on the dollar because no succession plan was put in place.

 

If you are the owner or key member of a business, succession planning is something that must be part of your administrative checklist. To forgo it is to invite doom upon the business.

 

Thomas Ajava writes about succession planning for UFCAmerica.com where you can obtain professional advice on small business succession planning.

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Why Maj-Gen Buhari (Retd) Must Quit Politics Now: His Many Sins
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3 Inspirational Quotes to Help You Become More Successful

3 Inspirational Quotes to Help You Become More Successful

Lots of successful people have been inspired by the success of others especially those who  acquired tremendous wealth and became the center of envy by those who are a little underprivileged. These people became what they want, because they copied from those who were ahead of them and it was followed from generation to generation. It becomes a trend and nobody want to be left behind and so the process continues. Successful people are always the inspirations by those who want to follow their footsteps.

I have selected some quotes from famous people who contributed to the world to become an inspiration to mankind and embraced to enjoy.

1. Napoleon Hill

“Before success in any man’s life he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do”.

This is true to those who are not so serious to succeed. Most people are eager to start when they are still in its early burst of enthusiasm. As the days and even months continued, and there work is still halfway to the finish line, they tend to become disinterested anymore and later on quit without giving justice to what they have started to see its course.

I am one of the victim of these early-to-start-early-to-quit mentality. I’ve started a project with the intention of getting it done on time based on my time table. But, as the time have passed and nothing came out into manifestation, I became frustrated and leave the work unfinished. This happened many times in my life, I became easily frustrated and ended up in a state of solitude and self pity.

Until I finally realized, and with the help of this quotes of Napoleon Hill, I was able to manifest a true change in my life.

Now, anything I commenced, either it be a simple task to a more complicated ones, I always stick to this inspirational quote as a guide for me to go on with my plans until the final result becomes apparent.

2. Calvin Colidge

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than successful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is filled with educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and always will solve, the problem of the human race”.

This is the most excellent quote I’ve encountered from the famous Calvin Coolidge. The content from it, is so magnetic that I am carried away by its meaning. Usually, many individuals are proud with their lots of recognitions and diplomas, thinking that those recognitions could bring them to success. So they end up waiting for some opportunities to arrive them without making some efforts to utilize those enormous resources they possesses.

No matter how you possess all those positive resources, if you’ll not exert your efforts to follow what you desires, nothing would comes out into reality.

3. Theodore Roosevelt

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people”.

Public relation plays an important role in the life of a person. It’s through getting along with people that you can be classified as a real person who can be treated the way others treat you. It’s a way how people value you as an  individual when you showed your inner self as well as your potentials to be of more important for them. Through your good rapport with your peers, you’re considered as a part of their lives, and because you’re not foreign to them, they’re all at peace to seek your help without any second thought whatsoever. They’re open to all their problems at your own disposal to give a quality solutions.

With this quality you possess, your success becomes more apparent to show its course.

Cris Ramasasa is a retired Horticulture teacher for 29 years and Freelance writer. Writes home gardening tips and resources. Written ebooks titled: Discover How To Get Started In Flower Gardening and Vegetable Gardening Made Easy and lots articles related to his area of expertise. Visit his site at: www.crisramasasa.com for more tips, free articles and ebooks and lots of valuable resources.

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Assistance In Making Business Plan Template

The first 18 months of your business is very risky. Survey says that almost thirty percent of all small businesses fall within the first two years. This is the deciding point if your business will be effective and if it will last. With this, you have to make a business plan to ensure that your business is given the greatest chance of success. 

There are websites offering assistance in making a business plan template. A good business plan template has two basic parts: narrative and financial worksheets. The narrative part of the business plan contains the details and the strategies. It is subdivided into various sections. Create your business plan in a systematic way to avoid missing out some points. The financial worksheets in the other way consist the budget for the business plan to work out. Remember that the purpose of making a template is not to hasten the result of your business but thinking about your business in a more intelligent and smart way.
 
The first step in making a business plan template is to make a rough draft. Make a note of all the ideas and concept you want to incorporate in your plan. If it happens that, you have a business partner, it is important to talk to him or her with your plans. 
 
The next step is to make a systematic and professional narrative. This will include all the ideas and concepts but in a more systematic flow. While doing this, you will be more involve in your business in a critical way. Some think of this as a waste of time, but creating a business template will help avoid making poor decisions that could lead to the failure of your business. 
 
When making your business plan template, you should start by writing the name and the details of the owner or owners of the business. After, you may follow it with the table of contents. A basic business plan template contains executive summary, a general description of a company, the products and services offered by the company, marketing plan, operational plan, and the management and organizational structure. On the other hand, the financial part consist the financial statement, startup expenses, and capitalization details of the plan.
 
 
 

 

How to Develop a Succession Plan

Succession planning has come a long way from the days when it usually meant simply putting names in boxes on organization charts. Effective succession planning has evolved to a process by which successors are identified for key positions, and career development and associated activities are planned accordingly. Here are the key steps in developing an effective succession plan…

1. Decide on the depth of your succession plan.
Although the most common model for corporate succession planning focuses on the most senior jobs in the organization (the top two or three tiers), a broader-based model where a similar philosophy and processes are applied to a much larger population (managerial, professional, and administration) is becoming popular. Sustaining the devolved model will require continued support of a committed management, so that identified successors will embrace the priority given to this process.

2. Identify the specific qualities you seek in suitable candidates.
Whatever you call them – critical success factors, key leadership criteria, core competencies – you must spend time identifying the qualities you are looking for in staff and want to develop further. A suggested process is one of multiple dialogue which involves collecting views of selected individuals and groups, testing those views – focus groups could be a useful tool here – and making any necessary amendments to the list. This approach will not only help to ensure that the view taken by the organization of an individual is
based on objective evidence but also helps to gain the commitment and ownership of those who are likely to be succession candidates.

If you are having difficulty identifying those qualities, this could indicate you need to spend time defining the business you are in. Constantinos Markides in All The Right Moves outlines a straightforward and useful process to follow, providing a clearer picture to help identify the qualities required.

3. Identify high-potential candidates.
A previous decision about the depth of your plan will affect the nature and size of any list of succession candidates. If your plan is for a devolved model, the list must be sufficient to accommodate predicted demands for a wide variety of positions that may become vacant, as well as any others needing extraordinary skills or qualities. Names on your list should also reflect your equal employment policy: succession planning can never be a stand-alone concept. In identifying a strong talent pool…
• Avoid the problem of incumbents choosing and developing successors who are much like themselves, thereby perpetuating the status-quo and limiting diversity. A highly homogeneous organization is susceptible to disease.
• Ensure candidates’ values match closely those of the organization. Jack Welch, when CEO of General Electric, said: ‘Competencies are critical, but the company’s values are even more central.’
• Ensure that all employees understand the identification process and how it works.

4. Work wisely to retain your stars.
Your retention plans must go further than dangling handsome financial packages. Research tells us that people who make career decisions based on money only will always be on the lookout for higher paying positions- they’re liable to jump ship when someone offers them a better package. Your successor candidates should be given opportunities to participate in a rich variety of assignments with opportunities to display leadership skills, become increasingly visible in the organization, gain and handle recognition for their contributions, and receive adequate coaching and mentoring. Share these mentoring and coaching roles among incumbent leaders with information generated about candidates being reviewed regularly. Ideally, discussion about performance and progress should focus on completed projects, so, wherever possible, candidates should remain in their existing posts to see their individual projects through to successful completion. In 2002, the Board of the Australian Broadcasting Commission delayed appointing a new Managing Director, opting to give maximum time for a successor candidate to demonstrate his skills as Acting-Managing Director. His demonstrated success in this acting role resulted in his appointment to the top
position.

5. Measure, reward, and review.
For a succession plan to be effective, it must be able to measure any performance improvements in its successor candidates. Successful candidates must then be rewarded in ways that are valued by individual candidates. Such rewards could vary from bonus compensation based on the extent to which they meet stated goals and objectives to an all-expenses paid weekend for the candidates and their life partners. Any review must take into account the full process from identification, planned individual development, and eventual succession or job filling.

6. Act now.
Training and preparing candidates for key leadership positions cannot be rushed. A well-planned, structured
succession strategy lays the foundation for your organization’s continued success, even when you’re not there. Do not wait until it’s too late to consider business succession – procrastination can paralyze.

Dr Neil Flanagan provides access to essential management know-how for busy people on the move. A FREE gift awaits you every time you visit management2go.com and you can take advantage of your FREE e-Topic and newsletter that will keep you informed about everything management. And if you’d like more information about issues raised in this article, you can go to http://www.management2go.com/products/Management-Medley.html

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