Succession planning has typically been the bastion of the big guys, the corporations who ensure that key positions are filled in so the company can keep moving forward, no matter what happens.
That’s all good and well for them, but for those of us who don’t have the wherewithal to have legions of replacements standing at the ready, what do we do? Obviously we intend to have nothing happen to us, but get this: things happen. Unplanned, unprovoked, unwarranted, and unwanted things. You could be run over by a truck, just when you thought life was going along swimmingly well. You could be kidnapped and held for ransom by robber barons who care little what happens to your company in your absence. You could step into a shower one day, slip and hit your head, and be dead within the week. (This happened to someone I knew. Not something one can plan for, is it?)
I don’t mean to be morbid, but here’s the thing: things can happen that we never expected. It’s what makes life so interesting, the possibility that every day wondrous things can happen, but so can horrible things, things that we never anticipated. These things can remove us permanently from our business, or they can remove us only temporarily, or they can fall into the great unknown category: will we return to work? Only time will tell.
And what happens to your business then? Perhaps you don’t care. After all, you won’t be around, so what does it matter? How do your customers and clients feel about that? One of the reasons people go to big companies is to ensure they’re taken care of, even if something should happen to the person handling their account. How can you give your customers the same level of comfort?
If you work with others in your business, either partners or employees, is there enough information so the loss of one of you doesn’t mean the customers will be neglected? Are procedures in writing and does everyone know where they are? If it’s just you running your business, what will happen if you disappear one day?
It’s one thing to plan what will happen to your business if something happens to you. If you’re a sole prop, you are your business, so the business will come to an end. But what about your customers and clients? How will they feel about it? Oh sure, they’ll be sad, of course, but what about THEM? They’re going to wonder what’s going to happen to them, which is a natural response. And what will happen to them? These are the things you should be thinking about now, and the beginning of a new year is a good time to do it.
Some of my colleagues who have their own businesses have reciprocal arrangements. If something happens to me, my husband knows who to contact to take over my client work. I have information on all my clients in a file, or will, as soon as I finish updating it. Here’s the thing: this is not a one-time all-done-never-have-to-think-about-it-again sort of thing. It’s an ongoing process, keeping in mind how you’d like your vendors to take care of you, should anything happen to THEM. Do no less for your own customers, and you’ll rest a lot easier in that hospital bed, which will mean you’ll be able to return to work faster and get back to living your life. If you’ve planned to take care of your customers when you can’t do it yourself, they’ll still be there, waiting for you.
