4-TRANSITION STAGES

Four key transitions stages which need to be planned meticulously and tread carefully are:

• Start Up:

The startup stage of a business occurs when a new company launches its first product, or when an existing company launches a new division. In either case, leaders of startup businesses are eager to exploit opportunities and feel pressure to deliver results quickly. Further new company startups face some special challenges since leaders of new companies are often technology or product-focused, and they may have little experience with selling, team building and other related organizational developmental challenges.

 

Initiating into entrepreneurship from employment-

 

There are instances of many with strong entrepreneurial desire and game changing ideas fear to tread the path of entrepreneurship fearing the loss. There are many other instances wherein they have started the venture and finding extremely difficult to address the concerns of many stakeholders. There are many other challenges which these entrepreneurs finding difficult and however can be resolved with proper guidance.

 

• Growth Planning-Expansion of existing business/Diversification to new area/adding new locations

Growth can be simply referred to as advancement from less complicated level to more complex level, very essential in business and its one of the major objectives of entrepreneurship. It is the movement of the business into bigger premises, taking on more staff, significant increases of turnover, taking on a new product line or lines, buying another business, and so on.

The transformation of an entrepreneurially founded company to a large business brings challenges especially to the founder and if the process is badly managed, this can result in either business failure or stagnation. The growth stages of a company from start-up to resource maturity is complex, it brings in formalised structures and decentralisation of power.

 

Planning for growth into uncharted territory of growth phase apparently easy but is most horrifying than start up stage. We also observed that large number of entrepreneurs turn to advisors and so much that they are choosing to be blind trusting advisors to guide them. This also resulted in suffering bankruptcy and loss of face in the society. Many entrepreneurs having great successful products/services are simply choosing not venture on growth fearing the loss.

 

Selection of right advisor is very crucial and equally important is to be in complete clarity over expected outcome and path to realize it.

 

A good financial planning document is must for successful transition. Without which the entrepreneurs are likely to loose direction. (What are the attributes of Good financial plan?)

 

• Succession Planning

Many entrepreneurs with family-owned or closely held businesses say the most difficult challenges involve deciding who will succeed the current generation and how to preserve and build the company’s value by providing for a smooth transition of ownership and management.

The succession plan may involve one or more of the following:

• Transferring the business to your children or other family members.
• Selling the business, or your portion of the ownership, to co-owners, where applicable, or to some or all of the employees.
• Taking a co-owners (may be an employee or outsider)
• Selling the business to a third party
• Selling a significant portion of the company to the general public via a public offering or other creative exit strategy.

BUSINESS SUCCESSION PLANNING CHECKLIST

• Contingency Planning

Whether we own a business or not, many of us do not have contingency plan. In case of an accident or illness, the contingency plan provides financial resources to ensure your survives. It informs the stakeholders, how you your business will be looked after  and who will be in charge.

Transition should be a conscious and deliberate process. It is advisable to be a documented one so that there will not be any ambiguity and uncertainty among stakeholders, target will be measurable and deviations will get quickly flagged. It is very desirable to enlist a proven specialist in drafting transition plan.