Seminar: Taking a holistic view of succession planning

As a rule, the regulation of company succession does not take place without external support. Many trustees, coaches, management consultants or even lawyers and tax consultants offer their services in this regard. However, depending on the situation, important aspects are not given enough consideration in the handling of a succession process, which can have a detrimental effect under certain circumstances. Therefore, experts now agree that a holistic view of succession planning is needed, a so-called "big picture". This is the claim of the recently founded Swiss Umbrella Association for Corporate Succession (CHDU). It propagates an approach that looks at company succession from the perspectives of "family," "company" and "capital" and, building on this, has developed a seven-step process - for example, for the sale of a company to a successor.

Reconciling the aspects of family, business and money

Hans Jürg Domenig from ANSATZ AG - Firmen-Nachfolge-Verkauf in Thayngen also knows about common stumbling blocks in the sale of a company for the purpose of succession planning. He is also an advocate of the three perspectives mentioned above. He always starts with the family of an entrepreneur: "How can the company provide a livelihood for the family?" is a crucial question, says Domenig. Then, of course, there are questions about inheritance, shareholdings of family members and who from the family works in the business. Against this background, it is important to develop the right strategy for reconciling family and business. Only then does the company perspective come into play with vision, mission and strategy. The third factor, "money," is primarily a technical issue that can be represented in mathematical terms. According to Hans Jürg Domenig, this topic should only be addressed after the family and corporate strategy has been clarified.

Tools for successful SME succession

Together with EXPERTSuisse, the professional association for fiduciaries and auditors, CHDU is now offering a full-day seminar entitled "Big Picture of Successful SME Succession" on two dates. It is aimed at succession advisors, fiduciaries, auditors, tax consultants, management consultants, coaches, organizational consultants and other professionals and career changers in the field of business succession planning. This seminar is intended as a preliminary stage for a certificate course to become a succession consultant or succession expert.

More information: www.chdu.ch / www.expertsuisse.ch/nachfolge

Succession expert Hans Jürg Domenig in conversation

Hans Jürg Domenig has accompanied over 300 company sellers, successors, company founders, start-ups and franchise founders on their way to success for 25 years. He is a founding member and on the board of the Swiss umbrella organization for business succession CHDU.

Mr. Domenig, to what extent can business succession be "learned"? For entrepreneurs in particular, succession is a unique process.
Hans Jürg Domenig: Succession cannot be learned in the strict sense, but one can benefit a lot from the experiences of others. The idea that succession is a one-off process is only true to a limited extent: Often, a first succession fails and one has to make a second attempt by learning from the experiences made.

The seminar "Big Picture Successful According to the invitation to tender, "SME Succession" is primarily aimed at people who support companies in the succession process. Where is the greatest need for learning for this target group?
For them, it will have to be about being able to take different perspectives. This is because a company succession involves a large number of topics to which, for example, trustees, lawyers, coaches, etc. bring different know-how. This know-how must now be brought together in a holistic approach. Our seminar will therefore show how to start the succession process with a clear structure. We want to focus on the holistic nature of the succession issue and shed light on the process, which consists of seven steps. A planned certificate course will then deepen these individual steps in 15 training days.

I conclude from this: The topic of succession has been treated "wrongly" up to now?
It is indeed the case that many topics are not given enough weight or are even omitted altogether. For example, money is discussed too early, or only family or entrepreneurial aspects are discussed, but not enough is done to deal with the topic holistically.

What is your personal experience with your own succession consultations?
As a consultant, you must not go into the process too hastily. A cautious approach is important, and the conditions are different in every company: I have seen entrepreneurs who only said at the age of 80, "I should think about my succession". Especially important: It's always about emotions, on both sides, the buyer and the seller of a company. I can now predict quite accurately when an entrepreneur will have his first sleepless nights. Or a buyer suddenly becomes afraid of the risk. That's when you need to bring all your experience as a consultant to bear, but the seller can also make a big difference by sharing his experiences. Over time, you can sense the thoughts behind each statement. Then you can influence them accordingly.

In a succession process, you have to reveal a lot about yourself. Is this often a barrier for entrepreneurs or owners?
Yes, entrepreneurs want to keep a lot of things secret at first, so as not to cause irritation among customers and suppliers. Therefore, a maximum of discretion is necessary. This makes the need for succession consultants who can guarantee precisely this discretion all the greater. Because as you can see: Succession consulting enters very intimate and emotionally charged areas. And a great deal of trust must first be established between the entrepreneur and the consultant.

It is said that succession planning actually begins when the company is founded. What is your attitude to this?
It is certainly not wrong and not too early to start thinking about company succession at the age of 50. At this age, entrepreneurs should start thinking beyond mere consolidation and tax optimization. After all, there are many topics that can play a role from this point on: Spinning off divisions or real estate, setting up a pension fund solution, reducing non-essential parts of the company and assets, or even setting up a management structure that does not place the entire responsibility on the shoulders of the entrepreneur.

How is the interest in the new seminar program and what are the plans for the future?
Initially, we have announced two seminar dates, on December 1, 2022 and February 1, 2023. We expect 20 participants per seminar. Of course, we would like to motivate these participants to then also take part in the CAS, which is to start in 2023/2024.