Finding a Successor: Seven Steps That Work

The search for a successor works in seven steps: clarify your goals, make the business transferable, draw up a requirements profile, work several search channels in parallel, approach discreetly, vet candidates hard and negotiate the handover in a structured way. Realistic timeframe for the whole journey: one to three years.

The pressure is documented: according to the KfW Succession Monitoring 2025, around 545,000 German owners aim for a succession by the end of 2029 — 569,000 plan to close for lack of a successor. Whoever searches systematically instead of waiting switches sides in that statistic.

Which routes exist in principle is shown in Finding a successor: the options. This article is the operational guide.

Step 1: Clarify what you actually want

Full or partial sale, immediate exit or gradual transition, maximum price or continuation in the spirit of your life's work? These answers determine whom you are looking for. Whoever searches for "any successor" finds none — the options are sorted in Succession solutions.

Step 2: Make the business transferable

No candidate takes over a company that only works with its owner. Delegate responsibility to a second level, document know-how, organise the numbers — this takes longest, so it starts first. The criteria are described in Preparing a succession.

Step 3: Draw up a requirements profile

Write down what the successor must know, bring and want: professional background, leadership experience, equity, time horizon, values. The profile prevents the two most common mistakes — taking the first interested party, and searching for the perfect candidate who does not exist.

Step 4: Work several channels in parallel

One channel is hope; several are a search.

Channel	Typical candidate	Watch out for
Family	Children, relatives	Clarify early and honestly — wanting beats owing
Own team	Managers (MBO)	Think financing through early
External management	Outside executive (MBI)	Check cultural fit
Business-for-sale platform	Individual buyer, regional	List anonymously, qualify respondents
Network & multipliers	Tax advisor, chamber, bank	Agree on discretion
Direct approach	Strategics, investors	Run anonymised via a third party

Step 5: Approach discreetly

The approach runs anonymised: first a neutral short profile, then a confidentiality agreement, then name and numbers — in stages. If the search becomes known prematurely, it unsettles employees, customers and suppliers. Discretion is not formality; it preserves value.

Step 6: Vet candidates hard

Three filters separate interested parties from successors. Financing: proof of equity and a financing concept, not declarations of intent. Qualification: can they run the business — and will the team accept them? Seriousness: whoever postpones meetings and does not read documents remains a tourist. Running two to three serious candidates in parallel also strengthens your negotiating position.

Step 7: Negotiate and hand over in a structured way

Price, payment structure, transition period, liability — this belongs in a managed process with clear stages from letter of intent to contract. The price is not everything: payment security and handover terms matter too (why, see here). The full sequence is shown in the handover guide.

How long does the successor search take?

One to three years from first step to handover — most of it spent on preparation and search, not negotiation. Steps 1 to 3 can be completed in a few months; the channels in step 4 need months before serious candidates sit at the table. Whoever starts earlier does not sell under pressure.

How do I find a successor if the family will not take over?

Through the same seven steps — just without channel one. Management buy-out, external executive, sale to a strategic or an investor are the established routes; details in Succession without family.

What does the successor search cost?

Platform listings are mostly free, your own network too. Costs arise for valuation, legal support and — in managed processes — the advisor's fee, usually as a success fee. The most expensive variant, in our experience, is the search that starts too late.

How many candidates should I run in parallel?

Two to three serious candidates are ideal: enough competition for your negotiating position, few enough for real scrutiny. A single candidate knows his position — and negotiates accordingly.

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