To help children take over a business, celebrate their success

On Behalf of | Aug 3, 2018 | Business Succession Planning

You know that passing your business on to your kids is a serious matter. A lot of companies fail when they lose the influence of their founders and the children do not put in the same time and energy to sustain them. You do not want this to happen to your company, so you focus on training and teaching your children from a young age. You are grooming them to do your job someday.

This is important, and you are wise to give them practical experience as soon as possible. However, experts warn that it is problematic to only focus on rules, creating a strict sense that the children must not fail. You also want to celebrate the successes that the children have.

This helps to build up their morale. You may expect them to do well — and therefore think it isn’t worth celebrating — but they need that positive reinforcement. They want your approval during this process. Giving it to them can inspire them to work hard. In many ways, it is more inspiring than coming down on them for their mistakes.

After all, you want your kids to have a positive attitude toward the company. If they’re going to be successful, they have to want to be successful. Making the business seem like nothing but a burden and a chore can push them toward another career path. They may still take over the company out of a sense of obligation, but they will not be as successful as they will if they are excited to start working and determined to do a good job.

As you work with your children to get them ready, make sure you also understand all of the legal steps you need to take to transfer ownership of the company.