You Didn’t Let Go Of The Steering Wheel

By Lora Benson | Jun 10, 2019
Succession, is an increasingly common occurrence within Financial Planning businesses. The biggest impediment to success? The current owner of the business.
Tips From The Coalface June 2019 


Succession, is an increasingly common occurrence within Financial Planning businesses. 

The biggest impediment to success? 

The current owner of the business.

When you ask someone to come in and run your business, you need to let go of the steering wheel. You can’t hand over, without handing over, and most owners I know suck at it big time. 

We joke about it, but all business owners are control freaks. Yet, what was your biggest strength when you were a smaller start-up, becomes your biggest weakness. It’s why most owners sell out and leave, rather than truly hand over to the next generation. 

As Verne Harnish, author of Scaling Up says, “To get to 10 employees, founders must delegate activities in which they are weak. To get to 50 employees, they have to delegate functions in which they are strong.” 

And it’s scary.

I was reading a post on LinkedIn years ago where a clearly frustrated manager of a business, related their conversation with the owner, who clearly wasn’t playing ball. 

They said, “You can do what you want, or you can get what you want. Pick one.”

It’s sage advice. If you want to succeed in your succession plans, you’re going to have to let go of the steering wheel.

 


Brett Davidson
Brett-Davidson
When you work with FP Advance you work with me, Brett Davidson, directly.
My motto is ‘advise better, live better’ and I practice what I preach. I'm straight talking and get to the heart of an issue quickly.
There's no beating about the bush, just a focus on helping things improve.
Ask my clients - what I teach works.