When most people start their small business, the last thing on their mind is thinking about what will happen to their business 10 years later.  I see so many people in our industry reach burn-out, retirement, etc. and literally just walk away from their business. In my opinion, that is a tragedy after all of the hours of work, blood, sweat and tears that these entrepreneurs have invested in their companies.

With a little planning, this is something that is easily avoidable through a strategy called “succession planning.”  In simple terms, this means “who is going to take over your business after you’re done?”

Here are some things to ask yourself while you start the succession planning process:

• How long do I see myself actively working IN my business?

• Do I want to always be involved to some extent in my business? Maybe continue owning the company and have someone else run/manage it?

• Do I want to sell it?  If so, what do I need to work on in order to make my business attractive to potential buyers or investors?

• Do I have anyone on my team who could take over my business?  If so, what is my plan to “groom” them to be prepared to take over?  If not, what is my plan to find someone who will take over the business?

My personal strategy for my own planning company is to always own the business, but have someone else completely manage the day-to-day operations so that I would have very little involvement. I would still profit from the success of the business and provide strategic guidance, but I would not be planning weddings any longer. This would still allow me to benefit from the years I have invested in my company, yet my work would be extremely limited. I currently have an employee on my team who I am grooming to run the business in 3 years. I’m already limiting myself to the number of events I personally take on so that I can begin to transition more work and responsibility to this employee.

What’s your plan? Everyone’s personal and professional situations are different, so be creative and think about ways that you could implement a succession plan that works best for you.

This is a guest post from Kelly Simants. Kelly joined Sage Wedding Pros in 2009 and partnered with Michelle Loretta to develop The Simple Plan, an easy-peasy approach to writing business plans for the wedding industry. Kelly’s background in training and development, as well as her 13 years experience in the wedding industry enabled her to guide wedding pros in the growth of their business. Her expertise lies in the people components of an organization’s training, organizational design, leadership development, employee relations, staffing and strategic planning. In 2008, she also co-founded the wedding industry not-for-profit Get Hitched Give Hope, and was responsible for overall procurement and event logistics.

Outside of Sage Wedding Pros, Kelly is also the owner of Sweet Pea Events, a wedding and event planning business with offices in Seattle, New York, and Dallas. Before launching her business, Kelly worked for Starbucks as a Director of Human Resources for their Supply Chain Operations, as well as Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as a Human Resources Analyst.