Since 1973, The Rawls Group has been passionate about helping business owners achieve their business succession goals. Nationally recognized, The Rawls Group specializes in addressing the issues that impact the continued success of a business legacy. By partnering with our clients and their other advisors, we work to develop a plan that will perpetuate the leadership, culture, performance, and relationships that are key to business success.

1. “Perpetuating Family Business Legacies Through the Next Generation”
Best Practices for Achieving Succession Success™
Continuation of success through the next generation of owners and managers
Family Business Succession Planning Advisors
The Rawls Group
1.800.777.2957
info@rawlsgroup.com
www.seekingsuccession.com

2. Defining Family Business

3. “Family Business”
 Two or more people gathered
together for reasons other than
money.
 Family is a choice, and often not
an easy choice
 Family requires both parties to
give benefit of the doubt
FAMILY BUSINESS
 A commercial enterprise that is
satisfying and fulfilling the
expectations & needs of those critical
to commercial viability::
₋Regulators
₋Creditors
₋Customers
₋Employees
₋Managers
₋Family

4. Definition of Success
The maintenance of
commercial viability while
fulfilling the personal goals and
priorities of those involved in
the process.

5. Definition of Business Succession
The continuation of
success through the
next generation of
owners and managers.

6. Definition of Succession Planning
Preparation for the
continuation of success
in light of inevitable,
probable and possible
contingencies

7. Core Values
Fundamental to succession planning best practices

8. Family Business: An Oxymoron
 Family: A relationship
environment of based upon
Unconditional Acceptance
 Business: A performance environment
based upon Conditional Acceptance
You can not run a business like a family and you can not run a family like a
business.

9. The Family Business Equilibrium
BUSINESS
performance
FAMILY
acceptance
The perfect balance between family and business priorities.

10. The perfect balance between family and business priorities, is a worthwhile goal but
an impossible achievement to maintain.
BUSINESS
performance
FAMILY
acceptance
There Is No Perfect Family Business

11. The Metric of Success for a Family Business…
How Long it Takes to
Regain Family Business
Equilibrium

12. Covenants – The Key to Unity & Teamwork
 Proactive, written agreements
between critical family members
or managers of unequal power
that confirm reasonable
expectations and provide
reciprocal accountability.
 More formal than an assumption
or verbal acknowledgement but
less formal than a contract.
COVENANTS

13. Best Practices for Achieving
Succession Success™

14. Best Practices for Achieving Succession Success™
1. Respect the Succession Matrix®
2. Lead
3. Grow Family
4. Build your Succession Bridge®
5. Develop and Communicate Your Exit Strategy
6. Create a Performance Culture
7. Make No Succession Assumptions
8. Be the Beacon of Optimism

15. INVOLVES MORE THAN BASIC ESTATE PLANNING
 Owner Motivation and Perspective
 Personal Financial Planning
 Business Structuring
 Business Performance
 Strategic Planning
 Leadership & Management Continuity
 Successor Preparation
 Management Synergy & Teamwork
 Family Governance
 Family Dynamics
1. Respect the Succession Matrix®

16. Succession is a
challenging
journey into the
unknown that
demands
leadership.
2. Lead

17. An effective LEADER is willing to
 Define the culture
 Defend the culture
 Represent the culture
 Portray confidence
 Achieve trust
 Make plans
 Express expectations
 Offer encouragement
 Recruit team members
 Demonstrate teamwork
 Assert accountability
 Consider alternatives
 Make decisions
 Prepare your successor
 Rise above failures

18. FAMILY:
 Is the fabric that brings resilience and strength to
the business enterprise.
 Is the foundation of teamwork that provides self
sustaining purpose, synergy and gratification.
 Generates the passions of pride and enthusiasm
that enables those with less to do more.
3. Grow Family

19.  Identify and affirm those (blood and non-blood)
who are a part of your business for reasons other
than money.
 Accept the motivations and gifts of your family
 Family is the fabric that differentiates the ordinary
between the extra ordinary.
 Empower your managers and demonstrate your
dependence upon them
How to Grow Family

20.  Identify a successor with reasonable
pre-requisites not including blood-line
 Confirm qualifications
 Prepare and deploy a Successor
Development Program
 Be a coach not a critic
 Give them room to learn from
mistakes
4. Build Your Succession Bridge®

21.  Have a life outside of the business
 Acknowledge that your exit is
inevitable and be proactive
 Establish and respect a reasonable
time-line (3-7 years)
 Establish an Outside Operating Board
of Directors that provides a forum for
your involvement
5. Develop and Communicate An Exit Strategy

22.  Confirm your definition of success
beyond dollars and cents.
 Create performance benchmarks and
SMART goals that support and affirm
success definition.
 Do not tolerate mediocrity
 Establish performance metrics
 Demand accountability
6. Create a Performance Culture

23. “We’ve made it; we’re losing it; we’ve got it done; my kids will work it out; my
key manager would never leave me; my son will grow up; we will learn to like
our daughter-n-law; my attorney and accountant will take care of that; my
family will grow a brain; I can do this; etc. “
7. Make No Succession Assumptions
FAMILY, TEAMWORK , HAROMY AND ORGANIZATION
ARE NOT NATURAL BEHAVIORS

24.  We are family and we are supporting one another on our
Seeking SuccessionTM journey
 You are critical to our success because everyone has a vested interest in
business succession.
 The success of the business cannot be greater than the success of the
people that make it successful
8. Be the Beacon of Optimism
SUCCESSION PLANNING BUILDS VALUE!

25. Knowledge is Important, Care is Critical

26. “Perpetuating Family Business Legacies Through the Next Generation”
Best Practices for Achieving Succession Success™
Continuation of success through the next generation of owners and managers
Family Business Succession Planning Advisors
The Rawls Group
1.800.777.2957
info@rawlsgroup.com
www.seekingsuccession.com