Preparing Succession: Making Your Company Transferable

Preparing succession means making the company transferable: independent of its owner, with clear structures, clean numbers and a realistic timeline of three to five years. Those who only start preparing when the successor search begins have already given away the most important value levers.

The numbers show what happens without preparation. According to the KfW Succession Monitoring 2025, around 569,000 owners in Germany plan to close their company by the end of 2029 — for the first time more than those seeking succession (545,000). A substantial share of these businesses would have been transferable. With lead time.

Why do successions fail at preparation?

Because succession is not an event but a process over years. A successor — family, employee or external buyer — only takes over what they understand and what works without the departing owner. Neither emerges in the three months before the handover.

In Austria, according to calculations by KMU Forschung Austria for the BMWET, around 52,500 businesses face a handover between 2025 and 2034 — nearly a quarter of all employer businesses. Here too: the businesses that find successors are the prepared ones.

What does transferable mean?

A company is transferable when a third party can run it: decisions do not rest solely with the owner, processes are documented, customer relationships are anchored in the company, the numbers are traceable, and the legal affairs are in order. Each of these points can be tested — and each missing one costs price or survival.

Building block	Key question
Leadership	Is there a second level that can carry the business?
Customers	Do the key relationships depend on the owner personally?
Processes	Are pricing, purchasing, sales documented?
Numbers	Do the accounts show the real, sustainable result?
Legal	Are articles, powers of attorney, contracts up to date?

How do you reduce owner dependency?

Step by step and visibly: transfer responsibility to a second management level, spread customer relationships across several shoulders, move knowledge from your head into documented processes — and make yourself dispensable by design. This is the single most effective lever for transferability and company value alike.

A simple test works in practice: three weeks of absence, without calling in. Whatever piles up in that time is your preparation list.

Owner dependency is also the first thing every buyer checks in a sale. For the sale perspective, see Preparing a Company Sale.

Which succession routes are open?

Family handover, sale to employees (MBO), takeover by external managers (MBI), sale to a strategic buyer or investor — or hybrids. Preparation is the same for all routes; the decision for one route is best made when the company is already transferable.

Because then you have the choice. An overview of the options: Succession Options. How the process then unfolds: The Five Phases of Succession.

What does a realistic timeline look like?

Structural preparation starts three to five years before the handover, clarifying route and preferred successor two years before, and the actual handover or sale process runs in the final year. Starting earlier buys room to manoeuvre — starting later loses options.

Time before handover	Focus
5–3 years	Build second level, document processes, normalise numbers
3–2 years	Clarify succession route, review tax structure with advisors
2–1 years	Search for successor or prepare sale process
Final year	Execute handover/sale, onboarding, communication

Whether the time has come for you: When is the right time to hand over?

When should I start preparing succession?

Three to five years before the planned handover — at the latest at 55 to 60 if the handover is planned for retirement. Structural changes need one to two financial years until they take effect and become visible to successors.

What happens if I do not prepare the succession?

At best, a sale with discounts. At worst, closure: according to KfW, one in four owners now plans to close the business upon retirement. Customer base, jobs and life's work are lost — often avoidably.

Can I prepare without committing to a succession route?

Yes. Transferability is the same for all routes — family, MBO, external sale. You decide later, from a stronger position. A checklist for the handover step itself: Company Handover Checklist.

The best succession starts years before closing. Talk to IGCP Capital Partners early and in confidence — independent, discreet, at eye level. → igcp.at