BDO's succession guidance stresses how rarely family businesses survive handover, noting that only a minority reach the second generation and few make it further, and argues that succession needs years of deliberate preparation covering leadership, ownership and governance, not just a will and a wish.
The finance workstream deserves equal billing. A successor inherits decisions, and decisions need numbers: clean annual accounts, a valuation grounded in real profitability, tax structuring done early, and management reporting the next generation can actually steer on. Start the bookkeeping cleanup years before the notary appointment; it widens every option, including the option to sell.