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It’s never too early to start transferring a business. Alain Simard talks about his experience during the transfer of Marché Richelieu Benoit Simard et fils inc.
For the second time, Alain is entrusting the Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton team with his succession process. Twenty-two years ago, he and his brother took over from their father as co-owners of the company founded by their grandfather. Now the time has come for them to pass the torch to the next generation.
Alain’s son and others outside the family circle, including long-standing employees, enthusiastically accepted this new challenge, becoming the fourth generation of owners in this great adventure.
The succession took place in stages, in a spirit of collaboration. The company’s prosperity is at the heart of both the sellers’ and the buyers’ concerns. Therefore, everything has been put in place to make it work.
“I didn’t want to wait until I was 65, because you don’t wait until you’re 65 to train a successor,” said Alain Simard. “All in all, from start to finish, it took almost a year, but it was well worth it to go through the process because it greatly helped us to better see what was coming.”
Alain approached some of his employees about getting involved. “These were people who were fully invested in the company, so it was a way of saying thank you.”
Outside support that bears fruit
Marie-Eve Proulx, Senior Manager at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and an expert in management consulting and business succession, accompanied them throughout the process.
There are several advantages to being supported in a succession process, in particular:
- Ensuring that all stakeholders move forward in harmony, taking everyone’s objectives into account;
- Moving forward without missing a beat, from success to success, to ensure a solid, successful transfer process;
- Being objective with regard to issues and their solutions.
In a business succession process, it’s essential to communicate properly and to regularly monitor the state of relations between stakeholders. The fiscal and financial sides are important, but so is the human aspect, and all of these facets must be taken into account when changing management.
For Marché Richelieu Benoit Simard et fils, the future looks bright, and a fifth generation may soon be joining the business.
Entrepreneurs considering handing over the helm of their business should not wait until the last minute to open their succession file. If you already have potential successors in mind, get them involved sooner rather than later. Your future will seem less daunting.