How to approach must-have conversations – 4m 34Succession must be talked about but how do you bring it up and where do you begin? Dave and Oliver tell us that it’s all about understanding what you want to achieve and when. Identifying personal and family objectives is key. This then opens up a whole host of discussions about people – do you have the right people in the business right now? Is there anyone in the business with the ability to take on leadership and management responsibilities, and is there an appetite to take the business forward, either in the family or within the wider management team? This then leads on to a discussion about what options are available. Why it’s important to have a clear succession plan in place – 7m 16A succession plan enables the family to evaluate what's important and at what stage that plan needs to come to fruition. But it's not just about the financial aspects. The succession plan has to touch on the family identity, wellbeing, what’s fair and not being divisive. Because often within family businesses, as the tree gets ever bigger, so does the potential conversations that need to happen with different members of family, different entitlement, different working relationships within the business and it becomes much more complex. By having a clear, articulated succession plan, it helps to alleviate some of those concerns and some of those potential problems before they even arise. Essentially, it creates a platform to protect the value and the business.COVID-19 and the effect it has had on business owners – 12m 03The last few months have been challenging for everyone; however it has given a lot of time for business owners to reflect. This in turn has led many to consider if their business is equipped for the next stage of growth, if they need to upskill and move in to markets, and for some it may be a time when they think about accelerating their exit, or at least providing the family with financial security by de-risking. Having the right skill set for the new normal – 15m 59Innovation is one thing the next generation can bring to the table that will help the business move forward. As well as being able to provide different ideas, challenge existing ways of working, engage the wider team and focus on new markets. If your business isn’t quite up to date with a particular skill set, then consider bringing someone into the business or having a joint venture with another business who can add value to your product or service offering.No next generation? What other options are there? – 20m 20Management buyouts have lots of different forms from vendor-initiated management buyouts, where the vendor controls the process, to management buyout, looking at the second tier, to a two-stage buyout, where you do it in segments. So there's lots of opportunities. EOTs, employee ownership trusts, are really a growing trend, and lots of people are becoming aware of that potential John Lewis type ownership structure moving forward.Management buy outs and employee ownership trusts – 23m 41The key with management buyout is, it's a private arrangement, therefore people won’t know that the business is for sale. Pride can be important for family businesses so having a private arrangement is an ideal scenario. Plus, its likely that you already employ the people who are best placed to run your business.An employee ownership trust, an EOT, is effectively a management buyout too. It's just the structure that the management buyout is achieved by. Effectively, an EOT is selling your business to the employees. There's often the thought that it has to be split equally between all the employees and that's not the case. So there can be different groups of employees that have different ownership structures.Top tips for considering succession planning – 32m 06Be ready, consider your business in the eyes of a buyer, what would you find attractive and what would concern you? And how can you improve this? Its important to act now to be sale ready because you never know when a buyer can come knocking. Mazarswww.Mazars.co.ukEmail: contact@mazars.co.ukTwitter: @Mazars_UKFacebook: Mazars UKLinkedIn: Mazars UKIn 2018, we launched our first Family Business survey in partnership with Family Business United. The survey revealed the challenges, opportunities and issues that family businesses are facing on a daily basis. And whilst the specific detail may change because of external factors, such as Brexit and now the global pandemic, it became clear that there are a number of issues that family businesses will always face, so we wanted to continue with our research in 2019 with a second survey and our 2020 survey will be published this Autumn. To view the Family Business Survey 2019, click hereTo request a copy of the Family Business survey when it is released, click here