Over the past several months, my family and I have been spending our weekends cleaning out my grandparents' house after their passing in the last year.
While I was going through and helping clean out the house — looking at all the items that spurred memories of them — I started thinking about family members passing things down to other family members.
How do you decide what should be passed along, who gets what and how it is going to be used after you are gone?
You could almost use that same line of questioning when it comes to owning a plumbing company and deciding to pass it down: Who should I leave this to? Will they know what to do with it? What will they do with the company after I step away?
FIND THE RIGHT PERSON
The first step is to answer those tough questions. A lot of times in this industry, the answer to that first question will be a family member — your siblings, children, nephews/nieces and so on.
That one alone can be tricky enough to answer. You don’t want to upset another family member, friend or employee in the process of selecting who you are going to pass the company down to. What do you look at when you make this difficult selection?
Here are some ideas: Do they have industry experience? How much experience? Do they have the know-how to run a business on the financial side? Are they familiar with the area being served already?
Come up with a short list of possible successor candidates, go through each of these questions and see which one ranks higher. That person is likely who you should pick to take over the company when you hang up the toolbelt.
KNOWING WHAT TO DO
The next question often asked by someone looking to hand down their business is: Does the person taking over know what do to with the company? The answer to that one should hopefully be yes if it is someone who has worked in the industry and, even better, for you for a long period of time.
You want someone who will know what to do with a plumbing company and how to run it. If you already have someone in mind to take over the company and they already work for you, try leaving them in charge for a couple days while you take vacation and see what happens.
You’ll not only find out if they have what it takes to run the company, but it’ll get them more comfortable with being in charge. And as a bonus, you get a few good days of rest and relaxation!
UP TO THEM
Now, that last question: What will they do with the company after you step away? The short answer to that one is it’s really none of your business. You’re hanging up the belt and handing over the company to someone else.
You’ve selected them after a long and careful thought process, so it’s time to let them run the company and do what they want with it. They could operate it just as you did, or they could decide to make it a smaller company or grow it considerably in staff and services offered. It’s all up to them. You’ll just have to learn to look the other way and hope you’ve taught them well.
WHAT’S YOUR PLAN?
What’s your plan for your company when you decide it’s time to call it quits? How are you selecting who takes over your company? I’d like to hear your thoughts. I can be reached at editor@plumbermag.com or 715-350-8436.
Enjoy this issue!
