Business Succession Planning Research Paper By MBA Candidates of University of Louisville
Project Objective of Business Succession Planning
The primary objective of the project was to learn about the mindset of small business owners and to gain better insight regarding what motivates them to exit their businesses and business succession planning initiatives. Specifically, we set out to learn:
•How and why people make decisions to exit their business.
•The psychological effects the idea of exiting has on business owners.
•Who business owners rely on most as their circle of influence.
Due to the sensitive nature of business exiting, we also wanted to find ways to engage business owners by focusing on the journey rather than the end results of business exiting. Our objective was to capitalize on the psychological and emotional effects the process had on business owners and show them what life after business meant. Specifically, our goal was to find out:
•How to make the business succession planning process enjoyable for clients.
•How to show them life after being a business owner.
•How to get clients to start business succession planning ahead of time.
•How to not only engage business owners in the “growth to legacy” process but also engage their spouses and families as well.
To achieve these objectives, the team agreed to deliver on the following:
•Investigation and definition of a target market based on our client’s description.
•Assimilation of business owner contacts into list of survey participants who met identified profile characteristics.
•Conduction of market research focused on the defined target market in the form of article reviews, market surveys and interviews.
•Development of a questionnaire to be used in surveying and interviewing business owners and other professionals identified as part of the circle of influence.
•Quantitative and Qualitative analysis and interpretation of the research results.
•Preparation of final report which included findings and recommendations for the client.
For more information on Business Succession Planning contact American Fortune at 502-244-0480.
