Company handover expert Jörg Sennrich says what needs to be considered
“Around a third of all successors fail”
Any succession can pose a threat to the company. It is therefore important that the generational change is well prepared and initiated over the long term.
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Jörg Sennrich (49) from the successor platform KMU Next: “Such a succession process can quickly take five to ten years.”
Christian KolbeEditor Economics
In the coming years, over 90,000 SMEs will have to decide who will be in charge of the company in the future. If they do not succeed in finding a successor for the patron or the entrepreneur or in finding a buyer, there is a risk of collapse. Jobs, tax revenue and a great deal of knowledge will disappear as a result.
The time factor is crucial. The successor must be tackled in good time: “Such a succession process can quickly take five to ten years,” says Jörg Sennrich (49) from the successor platform KMU Next. If you don’t take the time to suppress the question of a successor for too long, your company is in danger of going under.
Communication is crucial
“Around a third of all successors fail,” says Sennrich, who advises many companies on these issues. A successful succession has a lot to do with communication, fairness and the patron. “First and foremost, every company must be clear about how it wants to regulate the succession,” says Sennrich. And then answer a crucial question: “Who am I when I’m no longer a patron?”
Then the process of communication begins. It’s about talking openly with the children about whether they are willing and ready to follow in the footsteps of their parents’ generation. “I’ve also met fathers who couldn’t accept that their offspring didn’t want to take over the company – and suppressed it for years.” In addition, the question must also be answered as to what those children who have no interest in the family business will get. Or whether children are even suitable for a management position in the family business.
Successful succession planning
A prominent example of successful succession planning is the chocolate producer Läderach. Here three brothers in the third generation are now running the sweet business very successfully. Sennrich gives other examples: For example, the fashion house Goldener from Appenzell, which is being continued in the fourth generation by four family members. Or Mühlebach Mühle from Würenlingen AG, a company whose roots go back to the 14th century. Today, the siblings Stefan and Corinne Mühlebach from the fifth generation are in charge.
In an interview with the Agricultural Information Service (LID), Corinne Mühlebach revealed the recipe for success of long-lasting companies: “In family businesses, discussions are more open than in corporations, and sometimes a decision is struggled for longer. It’s a different entrepreneurial culture.”
A culture that needs to be preserved and nurtured – especially when it comes to succession planning. Around a third of larger Swiss companies are run or controlled by families. Successful cooperation between generations secures jobs and added value in Switzerland.