‘All for this’: Sask. town encourages business owners to create succession readiness plans

WATCH: Business owners in southeast Sask. are learning how to plan ahead through a workshop in Esterhazy. Sierra D’Souza Butts explains.

Esterhazy, Sask.’s business community has come together to develop a succession plan for their businesses future, through a Succession Readiness workshop.

Hosted by the town’s economic development committee, the workshop provided insight and actionable strategies to business owners to help them grow and protect their ongoing businesses, while planning for the future.

“We have a very busy community, with over 200 business licences that we issue every year and we want them to succeed and stay here for a long term viability,” Tammy MacDonald the chief administrative officer for the Town of Esterhazy said.

“When we look at this program, it is going to help them with a succession plan if they want to retire or move on to the next steps. As a municipality, we want to keep those businesses in our community. We want to keep having the grocery stores, the drug stores, and all of the mom and pop stores continue to be there, and not leave when they’ve decided to move on to other things. That they have a plan for someone else to take over for them.”

Hayley Nixon, a third-generation business owner, recently took over her family’s business with her two older brothers.

“Tags Plumbing & Heating was founded in 1960 by my great-uncle. He had a couple businesses on the go, but he started doing this one with my grandpa,” Nixon shared.

“Then it passed down to my dad and my uncle. Last year we officially transitioned, now me and my two older brothers are running the company.”

She said that being third generation owners is something they take pride in.

“The fact that we’re third generation is pretty cool for me and a lot of people,” Nixon expressed.

“I have two sons, I would love to know what it looks like one day when they want to be a part of it, maybe they don’t maybe they do, how would that be appealing to them if we have it figured out.”

Attendees heard from Cindy Reid – a value growth advisor from Ready Now Next – who emphasized how vital it is for small or large businesses to have a succession plan set in stone.

“It’s so important that I would suggest you shouldn’t get into business unless you’re thinking of the end in mind at the very beginning,” Reid stated.

“As we talked about [in the workshop], 55 per cent of exits out of businesses is involuntary. Without a succession plan to point someone in the right direction of, ‘in case something happens to me what happens next,’ it’s not always about the retirement plan, it’s literally about contingency planning.”

Reid added there are various strategies owners can take when planning for the future of their business, however, the earlier they start to plan maximizes their businesses value.

“The ones that have worked the best have started early, communicated often, updated, and account for the changes that life throws at us,” she explained.

“It’s not a matter of ‘I did the best plan,’ the plan isn’t the thing, it’s the journey and the communications……Whether you’re handing your business over to your employees as an employee-ownership plan or you’re handing it down to the child in your family, it requires the same amount of time, consideration, and effort.”

With close to 50 people in attendance, the town said they are happy with the outcome and look forward to supporting Esterhazy’s thriving business community.

“We love being able to give back to our business owners,” said economic development officer Crystal Sabo.

“I think our town council was all for this, they wanted to give back and give them that education they need. I think it does open the door to support those businesses.”