Valuable experi­ence of women in business succession

Compa­ny succes­si­on by female entre­pre­neurs is the focus of our three-part inter­view. We spoke to a KERN partner about the reasons for her commit­ment to advising women and daugh­ters on business succession. 

What are the experi­en­ces of women in business succession?

During my long career in small and medium-sized businesses, I learned a lot about the functio­ning of family businesses. During my active time as a managing direc­tor, I always accom­pa­nied both sides, that of succes­si­on and that of hando­vers, when I trained my succes­sor, so to speak. Some of my most exciting experi­en­ces during the compa­ny succes­si­on were:

1) Comple­xi­ty in succes­si­on is challenging

My first drastic experi­ence was when my employ­er in Switz­er­land at the time was taken over by a Spanish family business. The inter­cul­tu­ral side of the takeover was very complex and placed high demands on the integra­ti­on and change manage­ment process, becau­se very diffe­rent cultu­ral values and corpo­ra­te values came together.

2) Role change in business succession

The second drastic experi­ence was when I was offered the manage­ment of one of the subsi­dia­ries. Overnight, I went from being a member of my team to being a super­vi­sor. This is how junior managers feel when they sudden­ly have to take on sole respon­si­bi­li­ty for a compa­ny. The experi­en­ces I had were painful on the one hand, becau­se of course you also made mista­kes. But on the other hand, they were also very grati­fy­ing, becau­se you were able to achie­ve success.

Tips for women when selling a business

• First: A good prepa­ra­ti­on is a prere­qui­si­te for a smooth handover.
• Second­ly: Be honest with yours­elf. To answer the questi­ons: ‘What makes up the DNA of my compa­ny?’ and ‘What was my perso­nal contri­bu­ti­on to the success of my compa­ny? Without this reflec­tion and knowledge, succes­si­on becomes an arbitra­ry process and threa­tens the hando­ver. Becau­se the search for a suita­ble succes­sor can only work if I have defined the right standards and criteria.
• Third­ly: The Inform and invol­ve employees in good time. It is also important for the employees to be infor­med and invol­ved openly and honest­ly about the changes. Only then will they be motiva­ted and happy to embark on the new journey with the successor.