Does Birth Order Matter in Business Succession?

Business succession planning gets complicated when you have multiple children. Who wants to be involved? Who deserves it? What is best for your company? What is best for your family? These are just a few of the questions you have to ask yourself.

One other thing you may want to consider is birth order. Many experts believe that it plays a role in the personalities that children have, which they then carry with them for the rest of their lives. And, they say, a firstborn child is more likely to be a leader. Some have specifically gone so far as to say that it’s more likely they’ll become CEOs or found their own companies.

You do need to consider things like this when deciding who to put in charge of everything that you have worked so hard for. If you were hiring an outsider to run your business, which is an option as well, you would hire someone who was a natural leader and who could take the company in a positive direction. Just because you are leaving the company to one of your children doesn’t mean you should neglect to seek this same type of leader.

That does not mean you can’t split the company ownership up and have all of your children involved. You can. It just means that you need to carefully consider the roles that would help them and the business thrive after you retire or pass away. You’re planning for their future, and you must look into all of the steps that you can take to make it as bright of a future as possible.