Don’t wait to create your succession plan

What will the new year be like for your family business? What about in five or even 10 years? Will you still be at the helm guiding your company? More importantly, do you want to be? If not you, then who?

If you haven’t created a succession plan, you’re in good company. Although 77 percent of business owners have a will, only 33 percent have a succession plan, according to a 2008 PNC Bank survey.

When an owner of a successful small business departs, it can leave a void of uncertainty among employees and stakeholders. Oftentimes he or she is the reason…