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If you own a family business, succession planning probably feels like a loaded topic. Not because you do not care about the future, but because it feels like once you start talking about it, something irreversible begins.
A lot of owners quietly worry that planning means stepping back. That once ownership or leadership starts to shift, control slowly slips away. Decisions feel harder to pull back. The business starts to move forward without you at the centre of it.
That fear is understandable. It is also why many people wait longer than they should.
What often gets missed is this: succession planning is not about leaving. It is about deciding, while you still have full authority, what you want the future to look like and what you are not ready to give up yet.
What most owners are trying to figure out
When owners say they are not ready to talk about succession, they are usually thinking about very specific, very practical questions, such as:
- How do I let my kids share in future growth without giving up control today?
- What if they want to be involved, but they are not ready to run the business yet?
- What if they are not interested at all, or their interests change over time?
- How do I avoid tax or estate rules pushing me into decisions I did not plan for?
These are not emotional hang-ups. They are real planning questions.
Canadian research shows that many business owners delay succession planning because they are uncomfortable talking about finances or because they are worried about giving up control, even though many still expect ownership to change hands within the next ten years¹. Waiting feels safer in the short term, but it often reduces flexibility over time.
Control and growth do not have to move at the same pace
One thing that surprises many owners is that control and growth do not need to transfer together.
In a lot of family businesses, the founder keeps voting control and decision-making authority while the next generation starts participating in future value. The value that has already been built and the value that has yet to be created do not have to be treated the same way.
This is where planning helps rather than hurts. Without a plan, changes usually happen because something forces them. A health issue. A tax deadline. Burnout. With a plan, you stay involved, you set the rules, and you decide how fast or slow things move.
What if the next generation is not ready or not interested
This situation is far more common than people like to admit.
Canadian family enterprise research shows that more than 50% of owners believe the next generation is not ready to take over, and close to 40% believe they may not be interested at all². At the same time, many still expect ownership to change hands within the next decade.
That gap is where problems start when there is no plan.
Planning does not mean locking yourself into one outcome. It means giving yourself options. Depending on the situation, those options might include:
- Keeping ownership in the family while hiring professional management
- Exploring different ownership or trust structures that preserve the business culture
- Thinking about employee ownership as a longer-term path
- Creating a way to access liquidity without being forced to sell the business
You do not have to decide everything today. You just want to avoid being forced into decisions later.
Why waiting usually makes things harder
The cost of poor succession planning rarely shows up all at once. It shows up slowly.
Owners who wait often run into:
- Fewer structuring choices
- Higher tax costs than expected
- Less leverage when negotiations start
- Decisions driven by timing instead of intention
The long-term numbers reflect this. Research that is often cited in succession planning shows that only about 30% of family businesses make it to the second generation, 12% to the third, and roughly 3% to the fourth³. That is not because founders did not work hard. It is usually because transitions were left too late.
Planning is how you stay in control
Succession planning is not about giving up authority. It is about making sure you are the one shaping what happens next.
For family business owners who want an intergenerational transfer, the strongest plans are started early, adjusted over time, and built around flexibility. You are not trying to predict the future. You are trying to avoid being cornered by it.
At Zeifmans, we work with family business owners who want to plan responsibly without losing control of what they built. We help people talk through options, understand trade-offs, and put structure around decisions before those decisions are made for them.
If the idea of losing control is what has stopped you from planning, that discomfort is not a reason to avoid the conversation. It is usually the reason to have it. Learn more about succession planning here.
Footnotes
- RBC Wealth Management: Does your family have a succession plan? https://www.rbcwealthmanagement.com/en-us/insights/does-your-family-have-a-succession-plan-tips-for-maintaining-family-harmony
- Family Enterprise Foundation (Canada) Half of Business Owners concerned the next generation isn’t ready or willing to take over (October 2021)
https://familyenterprise.ca/resource/half-of-family-business-owners-concerned-the-next-generation-isnt-ready-or-willing-to-take-over-family-enterprise-foundation-report/ - Family Business Association: Letting go of the reins (March 2022) https://familybusinessassociation.org/article/letting-go-of-the-reins
