Business Succession Planning in Canada

This guide for small business owner managers shows you a way to include senior employees in your business succession plan.

• to honor previous commitments made to these employees,
• to give deserving employees an opportunity to acquire the business,
• family members are not interested in taking over the business,
• senior employees often represent the best possible buyers for the business,
• some combination of all of those reasons.

Management Buyouts: Selling Out to Senior Management is a great guide for owner managers of small businesses.

Make sure that your small business continues on after you retire with this sample Ownership Succession Plan for Family Business.

• This sample Succession Plan is designed to assist the owners of a family operation or other small business in planning for the future of the business following the retirement, disability or death of the principal owner(s), through:
  • training other members of the family or company team in management roles,
  • granting stock options as incentives,
  • setting up a board of advisers with expertise in financial, legal and other areas,
  • developing business plans and initiatives to grow the business and protect the owners' interests.
• If you run a family business and you haven't put together a succession plan yet, don't put it off any longer. Download and complete this template.

Sell your business to an employee with this downloadable Agreement for Purchase of Business as Going Concern.

• The Agreement for Purchase of Business as Going Concern is a great succession planning tool if you have no family members able or willing to take over the business.
• The transaction will take place upon the winding up of current business operations by the present owner.
• The agreement terminates the employee's employment, and establishes an agency relationship between the employee as buyer and the owner as seller with respect to ongoing contracts and obligations of the business.
• The buyer, as agent for the seller, will pay the outstanding liabilities and will perform any required warranty or service work under existing contracts with clients.
• This is a generic legal contract template which does not contain references to the specific laws of any country or jurisdiction.

Plan for the future of your business with this 8-page guide entitled Succession Planning 101 - Building 'Success' Into Your Succession Plan.

• events that trigger a succession crisis,
• various succession planning options, including passing the business on to family members, senior management, or outsiders,
• common mistakes and pitfalls,
• a checklist for doing it right.

Get expert advice with this valuable guide, written by a lawyer who specializes in succession planning.

"Succession Planning and the Family Business" will guide you through the issues to consider when planning your succession ⁄ exit strategy so that you can retire and pass on your business to the next generation.

• examining the reasons for leaving the business to family members,
• the most common mistakes in family-based succession plans,
• determining what is best for succeeding generations,
• tips for a successful succession plan.

Every family business should have a succession plan in place. This expert guide, written by a lawyer who specializes in succession planning, is a great tool to help you build yours.