There’s much ado about millennials these days. For some they’re nothing more than a generation of selfie-obsessed, video-gaming freeloaders who are absorbed with the idea that work gets in the way of play.
On the other hand, they’re persistent entrepreneurs who stare down venture capitalists in a “I’ll do it without your money” on their grand slam journey to become the next Travis Kalanick (Uber), Brian Chesky (Airbnb) and Evan Spiegel (Snapchat).
Maybe Lisa Curtis of Forbes penned it the best when she wrote, “The naïveté and idealism of youth probably has something to do with it. But I believe that there is a special cocktail of social and economic factors that has turned “Gen Y” into “Generation Y Not…start this in my parents basement?” Today, for example, young people are more likely than their aged counterparts to run a Kickstarter campaign in the hopes of crowning themselves the next Mark Zukerberg.
But even millennials who claw their way to the top find themselves asking the same questions as every other Gen 1 company founder – loyalty, retirement, work/life balance, and what is the future of the company? If you want to keep your start-up a family owned and operated business, the time to start thinking about your succession is now. Even though nobody likes to think about their exit strategy when they’re at the top of their game, the logical next step is to plan for the future. As the old saying goes, “those who fail to plan, plan to fail.”
Whether you’re a millennial who’s made it big and intends to build the next Koch Industries empire, or an experienced family business owner ready to retire, REGENERATION can help you map out a succession plan that is strategic, intentional and decisive.
