The Business Owner Planning & Succession Guide helps business owners protect their life’s work by organizing the key decisions, documents, and conversations required for a smooth transition. It begins by recognizing that a business is part of one’s legacy and outlines four foundational areas of transition planning: succession and exit planning, leadership continuity, financial and legal protection, and real estate or rental property considerations. Each section includes prompts and checklists to identify successors, document procedures, review legal structures, and prepare the business to run without the owner.

The guide then walks owners through exit strategy options—internal succession, external sale, installment sales, ESOPs, charitable trusts, or wind-downs—and provides the “10 Pillars of a Successful Exit,” covering personal goals, valuation, tax strategy, legal readiness, timing, and life after the transition. It includes tools such as a 10-year vision worksheet, accountability chart, metrics scorecard, unresolved issues list, and a 90-day / 6–12 month / 1–3 year action plan.

Additional templates include a one-page succession plan, communication plan, and a family meeting guide that helps owners align expectations, clarify roles, and educate heirs on transition tools like buy-sell agreements, key person insurance, trusts, and ESOPs. Together, this guide provides a structured, practical path for business owners to secure continuity, reduce risk, and ensure their business legacy endures with clarity and purpose.