Ownership Transition Timelines

While it is possible for ownership transition timelines to be accelerated, that largely depends on the current condition of the company, including the management team and current owner.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share
Succession: 5-7 Years to Prepare the Team and 12-18 Months to Work Through the Transaction.

The timelines cited below are for a contractor with a very hands-on, current owner with a functioning management team but not one that is ready to fully run the business.  

  • There is at least one leader within the management team who has expressed interest in future ownership while also demonstrating the drive and competencies required.  
  • The business is performing well, having enough capital and being able to regenerate its working capital every 4 or 5 years after taxes.
  • The current owner of the business is actively working on setting the company up for succession, including knowing what they want to do after selling the business.   
  • Starting from this foundation, assume that preparing the team will take 5-7 years and the transaction details will take 12-18 months.  
  • The single largest factor in how much these can be shortened is the speed of human development and a foundation of trust between the parties.  

If you want to discuss your particular situation, we'd love to have a conversation.


Ownership Transition Timelines
Continue building value in your business, yourself and your key team members with a good succession strategy....

Ownership Transition Timelines
Continue building value in your business, yourself and your key team members with a good succession strategy....

Agile Project Management vs. Critical Path Method
The Critical Path Method of project management is very commonly used on construction projects. CPM does not work as well in situations where there are significant “Known-Unknowns” about the plan CPM really breaks down when there are “Unknown-Unknowns”:
Allocation of Management Resources
Most new initiatives that contractors try often fall short of expectations due to poor management time allocation during start-up. We work with a lot of contractors and rarely see truly bad ideas or teams that truly can’t execute.
Levels of Productivity
Making major improvements to labor productivity for contractors starts at the company level and must be rigorously managed all the way down to the individual steps in each task.