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The 7 Silent Killers of Your Business Legacy (And How to Defuse Them)

Group of business founders meeting in a living room discussing succession planning and protecting their business legacy
Ten founders gathered in one living room, discovering that no business legacy survives by doing succession planning alone.

Did you know that 70% of family businesses fail to make it to the next generation? It’s not because of market conditions or competition—it’s because they fell into one of seven deadly pitfalls during succession planning.


The Living Room Epiphany:

Recently, ten founders from across the country, from our succession planning Breakthrough groups, gathered in my living room. As we shared stories, a chilling pattern emerged: every one of us knew a peer whose life’s work had crumbled during transition.


That night, I made it my mission to equip 100 entrepreneurs with the tools to finish well.


That mission led to Succession Planning for Impact (The Workbook): A Field Guide Companion to Succession Planning for Impact —a practical workbook designed to move you from awareness to action. Inside, you’ll find:

  • Chapter-specific exercises to confront each pitfall

  • Discussion questions that break through resistance and fear

  • Checklists ensuring no critical step is overlooked


The 7 Pitfalls:

  1. Paralysis by Fear (Steering into the storm without a first mate)

  2. The Time Bomb (Outdated agreements waiting to explode)

  3. Values Drift (Losing your core principles in transition)

  4. Financial Fragility (Inadequate reserves for the handoff)

  5. Leadership Vacuum (Unprepared next-gen leaders)

  6. Opportunity Blindness (No margin for new ventures)

  7. The Unfinished Finish (No plan for a meaningful legacy)


Your Next Step:

This blog series will expose each pitfall—but knowing the danger isn’t enough. The workbook delivers what you really need: the tools to build a lasting legacy.



Next week: Pitfall #1—Paralysis by Fear.

 
 
 

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