Jamie Biesiada
Do you have a succession plan for your agency? If you don't, you should.
For starters, it will help with the transition when you decide retirement is the right option. But even more importantly, if you ever find yourself suddenly unable to run your business, whether it's for a short period of time or indefinitely, a succession plan will help ensure that your clients and employees are taken care of.
We just dedicated two episodes of the Trade Secrets podcast to the topic of succession planning.
In the first episode, we featured mother-daughter duo Stacey and Sami Ray of Sisterhood Travels, an agency specializing in solo women travel. They talked about how they started working together (Sami was reluctant at first), and how Stacey eventually plans to hand the reins over to Sami.
In the second episode, we featured travel and entertainment attorney Tom Carpenter, who offered his advice on succession planning. And Carpenter would know -- not only is he an attorney, but he runs his own agency, Huckleberry Travel.
Both Stacey Ray and Carpenter said succession planning should start the moment your business starts. Ray said it was especially critical for her because she started Sisterhood Travels when she was 60 years old, just before the pandemic.
"All my friends said, 'Why are you doing this at your age? Why are you starting a business?'" Stacey recalled. "My answer was, 'I'm going to be this age anyway. What would you have me do?'"
She knew, however, that she had to figure out who would take over her business if something happened to her.
Something did happen. Stacey fell critically ill with Covid at age 62. Thankfully, her team stepped in and clients didn't even notice, she said, but the scare solidified that a plan was needed.
In Stacey's case, her daughter was a natural pick to succeed her as the head of the business. Sami was reluctant at first, but she's fully on board now as Stacey prepares to share with her all the ins and outs of running the business.
No matter who your successor is, Stacey recommends making plans with a qualified attorney.
Listen to the podcast to hear more about their journey together and the future of Sisterhood Travels.