“You need to create a succession plan,” they
say. “All you need to do
is this, this, and this.”
Yeah, well, doing this, this, and
this is daunting. It’s enough to give a
person agita! I know because that’s the
way I felt about it. I didn’t procrastinate;
I flat out avoided it. I didn’t want to
admit to myself that my time in pool
service had an expiration date.
I was too busy interviewing pool
tech applicants, penciling out if we
could afford a third truck, considering
marketing strategies and trying to focus
on growth to devote time to something
like that, which in my mind, is the
polar opposite. I’m focused on winning today; and you want me to think about
leaving? Those just seem like cross
purposes.
Coming up with an exit strategy
simultaneously triggers ALL my
avoidance behaviors. It’s like sitting
down to write a will. It makes it all too
real.
Sadly, it remains one of those “the
sooner, the better” types of things. You
can optimistically look at it as your
preparation for retirement. But that
tends to delay things as the mind wants
to tell you you have plenty of time.
Here’s the thing: You don’t know how
much time you have.
Whatcha gonna do if (knock
on wood) you get hurt tomorrow? What then? Okay, you’re in a trade
association like IPSSA, where route
coverage is available, or you could have
a friend or relative help you. But, as
valuable as it is to have a safety net,
neither of those are long-term options.
So, seriously, what would you do?
The truth is most small business
owners fail to plan for a future in which
their business can operate without
them, and 20 years and five minutes
from now are both in the future.
So I’m going to urge you to start
yours now. If that gives you a slight
feeling of unease in your gut, think
of how much better you’ll feel when
it’s written. Consider the worst case
scenario, where in the absence of a plan or any meaningful steps to prepare for
a transition, destructive chaos envelops
this entity you’ve worked so hard to
build and drives it into the ground.
It’s that realization that, despite some
feelings of dread, will motivate you to
get something on paper.
Last month, Haley Grace Harris had
a great article in AQUA Magazine titled
“Succession Planning: Hunsaker’s Five
Steps.” The story covered the workshop on succession planning led by Scot
Hunsaker of the Ardent Group that
kicked off the AQUA Live Leadership
Retreat in December. The session
underscores five crucial steps:
Firstly, fostering authentic
conversations within the company
promotes transparency and alignment,
aided by data-driven discussions.
Secondly, identifying potential
leaders through strategic planning helps select successors with the right
qualities.
Thirdly, transferring knowledge
systematically ensures critical insights
are shared and accessible.
Fourthly, encouraging innovation
fosters a culture of continuous
improvement, supported by tools like
situation reports and the jar system.
Finally, entrusting leadership
confidently involves early planning
and clear communication to ensure
a smooth transition that honors the
company’s legacy and future leaders’
potential.
I was lucky enough to be there in
attendance, and I took home with me a
deeper understanding of the challenge.
Who Could Run Your Business?
Take a moment now and just consider
who in your company you’d hand the
keys to if you had to. Maybe you don’t
have that person right now. Hiring
in recent years with the workforce
shortage has been stressful enough
— now they need to show promise of
having the potential to fill your shoes?!
Welp, you gotta find them somewhere.
Once you have identified your
potential possible stand-ins, you’ll have
to eliminate personal bias from the
equation as you develop and evaluate.
You can’t let friendship or favoritism
drive this decision. There is too much
at risk. We want the person, without a
doubt, who is best suited for the role
and responsibility. Step outside of it for
a minute and take an honest look at
who you have.
Suppose no one on your team can
swing it — a distinct possibility. You’ll
need to get over that uneasy feeling
of looking outside your company for
someone who can come onboard and
grow into the person you need. You will
very likely have to think differently about
compensating this person. You’ve
already admitted they have skills and
potential your current employees lack.
You can’t pay them the same.
Once you’ve picked the winning
horse, you must put money down
for training and development. We
don’t just want technical acumen; we
must make this person a competent
business professional. I know you
are not Bass Pro Shops with a big fat
wallet for education, but that shouldn’t
discourage you from looking at workshops that charge a fee. You are
more likely to take a class where the
solutions taught are unbiased if you
pay to be there versus one you attend
for free.
Understand that although the
benefit of investing in that future
manager is crucial, there is the risk that
the person will leave one day after you
spend a ton of time and money on their
development. On top of that, we now
have the FTC’s ban on noncompete
clauses, which takes effect in August, to
give your gut an extra twist if you were
planning to go that route to protect
your investment. Chalk all that up to the
cost of doing business.
Blindsided by Injury
I had to do all this — find someone
outside my small service company to
take over. In 2013, I suffered an injury
that turned me from a small servicebased
business owner to someone
who makes his living in education
— speaking, consulting and writing.
When I see people now at shows, I’m
usually sporting a cane or sitting in a
wheelchair.
I was blindsided when this
happened. I had no one on my team
with whom I could run my business.
So, in reading this, know that I
am coming to you with first-hand
experience.
I had no succession plan, but I
got lucky. Searching for someone to
step into my shoes, I found a relative
interested in buying the company. I
was able to sell and quickly pivot to
a new venture. Still, I had this gutpunched
feeling because I loved what
I was doing before the accident; that
company was my baby. Sure, there were
times when it would kick and scream all
night, but there were also other times
when it would make me smile ear to ear
with joy. I never wanted to leave it.
I think if I would have had a good
plan and been better prepared before
my injury, there might have been
another outcome, because selling was
never the plan.
But you, who has time to prepare,
free of the constraints of crisis, do this
now. Grab a paper and a pen, or open
a new Word document. Turn on the
television, kick back in your favorite
chair, and jot out a rough draft of what
you think your succession plan might
look like. Incorporate Hunsaker’s five steps. Maybe start with an outline. See
what you come up with. It’s okay if you
don’t map out a complete picture of
what this should look like. It’s okay if it
sucks, it’s only your first draft. We can
try again next Monday. Why Monday?
Unscheduled tasks are easily delayed.
Over time, you’ll see that you are
putting together something of value
that will work. The other thing about a
succession plan is that you are never done writing it. You need to schedule
time to periodically review and update
once you have something you think you
can work with. As long as you operate
your business, this plan should be
ever-evolving, reflecting your company’s
needs and capabilities.
This article first appeared in the June 2024 issue of AQUA Magazine — the top resource for retailers, builders and service pros in the pool and spa industry. Subscriptions to the print magazine are free to all industry professionals. Click here to subscribe.
