How early should succession planning start, and why do most owners wait too long?

Succession planning done well takes time: identifying and developing a successor, transferring institutional knowledge, and gradually shifting real decision-making authority, none of which can be compressed into a few months once a health scare or unexpected event forces the timeline.

Many owners avoid the topic because it forces uncomfortable conversations, about mortality, about favoritism among children, about whether a chosen successor is genuinely ready. Avoiding the conversation doesn't remove the discomfort. It just delays it to a moment with far less room to get it right.

The businesses that transition most smoothly tend to treat succession as an ongoing process starting years in advance, not a single decision made under pressure.