Business Continuity & Succession Planning

Business continuity

If you run a business it is important you put plans in place to make sure it continues to trade if the unexpected happened to one of your key personnel.

It’s an interesting fact that whilst most companies cover themselves against building loss or damage, company car loss or damage and so on the majority of companies don’t cover their single biggest asset – their employees.

Could you continue to trade or would you suffer financially if you lost an employee who was key to your business? Would you have the necessary cash flow to replace any loss of profit as a result of them not being there?

Business succession

Whilst it is a key part in protecting the stability and continuity of the business, too often little or no consideration is given to the succession plans for a business when it comes to transferring its ownership and control to new management.

If you fully or partly own a business you must think about what you want to happen if you were to suddenly die or become critically ill. Who would you want to get control of the business and how and where would the money come from to make sure your wishes were met?

While there are no hard and fast rules on succession planning, it’s important that as a business owner you link it to the needs and interests of the co-owners and their dependents. Only by planning properly will you avoid conflict and confusion at the time of handover.