The majority of life is about making a plan and also planning. We are constantly adapting our lives and circumstances so that they accommodate our current position and environment. At the same time that never stops us making a plan for the future or rather planning that the future is as we want it to be.
In brief I suppose that is what separates man from beast, while both need to adapt and “make a plan†quickly as external forces affect us, only man can be said to know how to plan his future circumstances with any great degree of conscious knowledge.
John Lennon captured the first point exactly when he said, life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans. Whereas James Dean seemed to thumb his nose at both when he told us to, Dream like you will live forever, live like you will die today.
Somewhere in the middle of all this opinion is a message, enjoy your life, be adaptable and yet plan for the future. In business this also involves succession planning and as an individual it would mean pension or retirement planning.
Succession planning in business applies to everyone, from the sole trader to the global corporate. The sole trader must have a planned exit strategy and or insurances should anything go wrong before retirement, the corporate on the other hand must have a managerial development plan, which may also be bolstered by key man insurances to help it through the bumps should its senior people fall under that ever threatening Claphorn Omnibus.
The message is simple, talk to people who know about succession planning and in corporate financial services I am lucky to work for a company who is the very best in the business. If you, however, are simply the Man on the Claphorn Omnibus, the normal man in the street, who makes the country function then get advice today. Protect yourself and perhaps also your business, but most of all your family!
Because after all only two things are certain, death and taxes and if you don’t “Make a Plan” your successors may be dealing with both!