Role of Succession Planning to the Survival and Sustainability of Family-Owned Businesses for Economic Development in Benin-City, Edo State

Abstract

The relevance of family-owned businesses (FOB) to families and national economic development is unquantifiable but the high moribund rate of most of the businesses is appalling. The study therefore examined the role of succession planning to promote the survival and sustainability of family-owned business from one successive generation to another. It determined how effective planning could be made to ensure a smooth transition that would guarantee FOB multigenerational survival and sustainability. Four research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. All the multifaceted Family-owned businesses in Benin-City, Edo State of Nigeria constituted the study population and 100 were selected as sample representative using simple random sampling technique. The descriptive survey research design was adopted and a 40-item structured questionnaire was used as instrument for data gathering. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation and t-test technique was used to test the formulated null hypotheses. The findings revealed among others that succession planning will ensure smooth business transition that would harmonize family interest with business goals which would guarantee the business continuity and the sustainability of the family business legacy. It was recommended among others that FOB operators should adopt the best succession planning approach to ensure the survival and sustainability of their businesses from one successive generation to another in order to provide the much need contribution to economic development in Nigeria and Benin-City of Edo State in particular.

Key Words: Financial Readiness, Pre-retirees’ Entrepreneurial Intentions, Business Startup, Post-retirement, Succession approaches, overcoming succession challenges, Business multigenerational continuity