The era of baby boomer retirement has officially begun. USA Today online recently ran a story about the nation’s first baby boomer receiving her first retirement benefit. The story has started a small wave of concern about succession planning, and how companies plan to deal with the sudden loss of experienced workers.
The article above pertains for the most part to large corporations, but many baby boomers don’t work for large corporations, are actually small business owners themselves. For these business-owning boomers the issue of retirement is not an academic question, but a concern close to their hearts. A previous post on this subject discussed the tendency of small business owners to put their own retirement needs on the back burner, but these articles take us one step further to the question of succession planning. Here is a question for small business owners everywhere—what will happen to your business when you retire?
Succession planning is a hugely personal issue and will differ for every family and every business owner. Options range from passing the business on to a child to cashing out completely and moving to the Bahamas. But don’t make the mistake of waiting until the year of your retirement to think about it. Your succession plan should be part of your business plan from the very beginning. In fact, keeping your succession preferences firmly in mind can serve as a guide as your business changes and grows over the years.
So baby boomer or no, take some time right now to think about the future of your business. Talk to your family, your partners, and ask your advisors for help.
