What would you think of your 24 year-old taking over the business you had spent decades building? Could he handle it? How would things turn out?

In The Globe and Mail we have an actual case study of this exact scenario:

..."he transformed father Brian Toner's company into a multimillion-dollar export business, climbing to more than $6-million worth of business annually from less than $1-million." Via The Globe and Mail

Outstanding Result

This young man worked hard to transform this business in just six years into a export power house.

To his credit, he hired consultants, listened to employees, and totally revamped the business leaving no stone unturned "To make Timber Top Trusses profitable, Mr. Toner revamped production, improved delivery times..." to transform his Fathers business.

What I find most fascinating is that he would do things differently today:

"And while Mr. Toner, now 32, ultimately managed a successful succession, today the Grand Falls resident concedes he would do things differently if he started over again.

For one thing, he would draw up a detailed plan for the changeover, although he's quick to note that succession planning is a relatively new concept: "That's only being talked about in the last five years." Via The Globe and Mail

Expect to hear a lot more about business succession planning in the coming years. It can and will make a difference between success and failure.

Some of the greatest challenges a successor faces is understanding and fitting into the culture. Plan to be on a very steep learning curve. A written succession plan will help you to prepare and the time you need to learn the ropes without sinking the ship.