01 /
Write the outcome before the timetable
Describe the business you want to hand over and the role the current owner wants afterwards. Include personal priorities such as involvement, flexibility and the timing of a possible exit, without assuming that every objective can be met by the same route.
Invite proposed successors and other owners to state their objectives separately. Mark differences as decisions to resolve. A tidy plan that hides disagreement will be harder to use when the transaction becomes real.
02 /
Build parallel workstreams
Create separate lines for leadership, ownership, funding, business readiness and professional advice. For each, record the present position, desired position and next decision. This prevents a leadership appointment from being mistaken for agreement on the future shareholding.
Use our succession planning advice to connect these workstreams. Family businesses can also use the family succession guide to prepare conversations about expectations.
03 /
Make every action testable
Replace “prepare the successor” with a specific responsibility to transfer, the support needed and the evidence that would show readiness. Replace “arrange finance” with a defined funding question and the information needed to discuss it.
Name one accountable person for each action. A review date is a prompt to examine progress, not a promise that every negotiation or approval will be complete by then.
04 /
Plan for a change of direction
Add a fallback for the assumptions that matter most. What would you do if the successor withdraws, the owner needs to step back earlier or the proposed funding is not available? Identify what can continue and what must be reconsidered.
Keep a decision log alongside the plan. Record why a choice was made and what new evidence would justify reopening it. Review after a material trading, family or ownership change.
Use this in your business
Copy this succession decision register
| Workstream | Decision and evidence | Owner / review |
|---|---|---|
| Owner objectives | Desired involvement and income questions; stakeholder views. | Name / date |
| Leadership | Responsibilities to transfer; readiness evidence and support. | Name / date |
| Ownership | Preferred route, interests and unresolved rights. | Name / date |
| Value and funding | Assessment required; affordability assumptions to test. | Name / date |
| Continuity | Critical relationships, knowledge and contingency arrangements. | Name / date |
| Advice and documents | Tax, legal and valuation questions; dependencies. | Name / date |
A practical example
Turn a broad action into a decision
“Hand over customer relationships” is difficult to review. A more useful entry names the relationships, identifies the successor, sets a period of joint involvement and records what successful independent handling would look like. The owner and successor can then review evidence rather than rely on a general feeling that the handover is progressing.
Your next move
Review the gaps in your succession plan
If the register reveals competing objectives or an unclear next step, bring it to us. We can help you prioritise the decisions that make the rest of the succession plan possible.
Review the gaps in your succession plan