The Value of Starting Succession Planning Early: A Gift to Your Future Self
- Quinten Taljaard
- Sep 18
- 2 min read
We often meet founders who carry the full weight of their businesses on their shoulders — operationally, strategically, even emotionally. It is a lonely, absorbing journey. And too often, succession is treated as something you deal with at the end.
But what if it were part of the build?
Succession planning is not just about retirement or exit. It is the art of future-proofing — a deliberate design of leadership, legacy, and continuity. It brings clarity, resilience, and even optionality.
We often ask our clients:
What does success look like if you are not the one driving it?
What would it take to build a business that is transferable, not just profitable?
Who would you trust with your clients, your people, your reputation?
Whether your end goal is a sale, a family handover, or employee ownership, succession is not an event. It is a process.
Five Steps to Begin Succession Planning Thoughtfully
Clarify your long-term vision
Will you sell? Pass it on? Step into a chairman role? Understanding your personal and business goals sets the direction.
Map your key roles and dependencies
Where does the business rely too heavily on you? What critical knowledge or relationships are held by just one person?
Assess internal talent (and gaps)
Could your successor already be inside the business? If not, what qualities would the ideal candidate bring?
Professionalise your operations
Clean governance, clear financials, and robust processes make succession (and value) far more attainable.
Start conversations early
With family, with leadership, with advisors. It is easier to shape the future when it is not yet urgent.
What should you look for in a successor?
While skills can be developed, character is non-negotiable. Look for:
Integrity and sound judgement
Cultural alignment with your people and values
Commercial savvy and operational grit
The ability to inspire trust — not only in you, but across your business ecosystem
It takes time. But it gives you time back.
Succession planning is not a sign of stepping away — it is a sign of building with maturity and foresight. It gives you freedom, preserves the value you have built, and creates a future that works with or without you.
At Logan Gray, we support entrepreneurs long before a transaction. Succession is where the journey begins — not where it ends.
You do not need to have all the answers. You only need to start asking the right questions.
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