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Moving away from external control and the inertia of existing corporate structures, toward self-determination and working for oneself in one’s own business—that is the main motivation for wanting to take over a family business.
The opportunities to make this dream a reality have increased significantly in recent years, as a large number of family businesses are facing the need to resolve succession issues, and successors from within the family are now available in only about 60% of cases.
To ensure a successful search for one’s own business, a structured approach and expert guidance are recommended throughout all phases of preparation and implementation.
As a first step, the future entrepreneur must take a self-critical look at their own profile and skills. This includes professional experience, personal strengths and weaknesses, personal motivations, and preferred external conditions, as well as financial resources.
The second step involves refining the search criteria for a suitable company. Many people focus solely on the industry, revenue size, and regional location, forgetting that family-owned businesses, in particular, are shaped over the years by the owner’s personality.
If, for example, the current owner is a rather all-powerful, hands-on type, you’ll find employees there who are used to being closely managed and expect clear instructions. Conversely, the previous owner may be an introverted innovator who has built a team that operates as a self-directed unit with a high degree of personal responsibility. If, when deciding on a succession, one neglects to consider the established corporate structures and how they align with one’s own leadership style, this can very quickly lead to major tensions within the company, which may ultimately cause the entire succession process to fail.
Therefore, when searching for a suitable company, it is important not only to consider business metrics, strategic perspectives, and financing models, but above all to recognize that a company is a living organism whose potential for success depends on the people working there and the way they interact.
Only once your own entrepreneurial profile has been clearly defined and the profile of a suitable company has been established can the search begin in the third step.
Good options for this include posting requests on public marketplaces such as the Deutsche Unternehmerbörse, directly approaching suitable companies, and, above all, leveraging network contacts.
Without the involvement of a neutral intermediary, the research and initial contact are very difficult, as both the seller and the buyer rely on the highest level of confidentiality and discretion when clarifying succession issues.
Professional succession advisors ensure this necessary, high level of confidentiality by ensuring that specific information about companies, individuals, and background details is only shared after the seriousness of the interest has been verified, detailed mutual confidentiality agreements have been signed, and the disclosure of the information has been approved in each case.
Experience shows that the chances of finding a suitable business increase immensely when the prospective entrepreneur involves a competent advisor and intermediary from the very beginning—working with them first to define their own entrepreneurial profile and then systematically determining what kind of business they are looking for, before the search actually begins.
