Every day businesses become defunct, nada, gone, Why? Somebody has not looked after the little things and these become big things and the company is beyond saving. We all think about the blood, sweat and tears we put into building our business. And then we think about what will happen to our business in 10 or 20 years time.

Usually we see ourselves as passing our business on to our children and so we groom them to take over when we step aside. Imagine you are Timothy Eaton who started the T. Eaton Company in 1869 selling items for cash at a fixed price and offering satisfaction or your money refunded. The business passed from Timothy to his son, to his nephew and then to his grandson (who was too young in the beginning). Eventually it was led by George Ross Eaton, Timothy’s Great Grandson.

This is better than normal – one of the largest department stores in North America at the time succumbed after two more leaders although the last two were not family members. If you see your legacy being the business you built and passed on you need to be aware of the signs that tell you things are not going as well as you hoped.

Following are the five signs that will tell you there is change coming and it may not necessarily be the kind of change you want.

1- You Don’t Have a Vision

Without a vision you have no idea where you will land. Be conscious of what you wish to see in the future – if you write it down and share it with everyone, everyone will know where you want the business to go. Remember, as long as it is only in your head it is a dream, not a real vision.

Visions need to be accompanied by a few things:

• A time line – when do you expect to see your vision come to fruition
• Who will be there
• What do you see when you think of it
• Where will your company be in this vision

2- You Don’t Have a Strategic Plan

Every business, even a family business, needs to have a plan. Yes, you can change it tomorrow when you get new or better information. However, without a plan you will probably not move forward. You will stand still! And soon you will be moving backwards.

Strategic plans include certain elements:

• Goals
• Time lines
• Resources (human, financial, environmental, equipment, etc.)

3- You Don’t Have a Succession Plan

What happens when you pass away unexpectedly? One client passed away at a corporate function on the dance floor. His two sons were to take over the family business yet neither was ready. Mom knew this. She brought in someone to teach her sons how to run a business and within a few years they were ready to take over the reins.

Without a succession plan you may be leaving a mess for others to clean up. Is this what you want for your family? It’s not fair to them and it’s not fair to the employees who are not family who faithfully come to work everyday thinking this organization will run forever.

Succession plans are like other plans – they need to be in writing and others need to know how they fit into the plan. Recently we heard about a CEO who has 3 children in the company – the plan – each will continue to run his or her department while dad will be in the office 2 days a week to make sure everything runs smoothly. This is not a succession plan – this is folly!

4- You Have a Retention Problem

If you see turnover being rampant in your organization you know you have a problem. Now the biggest thing to be aware of – people do not always leave an organization for more money. Often they leave an organization because of their boss. What’s happening in your organization?

If you have people leaving often then you need to look at what is happening within your organization.

• Are people being treated well?
• Is there room to grow?
• Are people provided with training so they can do their job well?
• Are people participating in decision making – some see this as very valuable?

5- Your Bottom Line is Moving Towards Red

Every company can have a difficult cycle. However, when there are too many difficult cycles it is time to take a really close look at what is causing this. There could be many reasons:

• A lack of sales
• Too many returns – is production a problem?
• Do you have too many employees?
• Are the books being monitored effectively?
• Is your marketing effective?

With all these things to think about you may wonder when you will find time to build your business. However, whenever you pay attention to the little things the big things fall into place. Where will you start to ensure you have a business that is successful for years to come and an opportunity for family to secure a viable income?           –