The Five C’s of Succession Planning

The Five C’s of Succession Planning
I recently read an article written by Ed Friedman from ‘Dynasty Financial Partners’, based in New York, which was published online.

The article itself was targeted towards financial planning / financial advisory firms, but is just as relevant to accounting and legal firms considering succession. It essentially references the five Cs. I outline them here, in relation to succession planning:

1. Culture

We talk about this all the time when it comes to selecting a successor, whether it be internally or via an external sale. It’s hard to quantify but it’s key to successful succession.

2. Core values

It’s interesting to find this one defined separately as often we see this included within the point above.

3. Competence

To draw the confidence of clients, they must be comfortable with this element. If the future service provider isn’t seen to have the skills or expertise, clients will be gone in a flash.

4. Communication

This is as fundamental in the actual explanation of the succession proposal as it is in terms of general practitioner / client engagement. If clients don’t believe the initial succession / transition message, trust will be lost, often for good.

5. Commitment

Initially the less changed the better. Most clients are adverse to change, however subtly over time, the ongoing business will come to reflect the new owner. Wholesale changes at the beginning jeopardise the transaction.

Whilst not all of the content is perhaps perceived as ideal by practitioners, it certainly has some key messages worth reading.

To read the full article, click this link – The-five-cs-of-succession-planning