What's next? Who's next? Businesses need succession plans


              In this Aug. 2, 2017, photo, Jessica Sayles, a certified public accountant, works in her office in Las Vegas. Sayles is thinking about who might take over for her when she retires from the accounting firm where she is managing partner, even though that's still more than 20 years away. (AP Photo/John Locher)
In this Aug. 2, 2017, photo, Jessica Sayles, a certified public accountant, works in her office in Las Vegas. Sayles is thinking about who might take over for her when she retires from the accounting firm where she is managing partner, even though that's still more than 20 years away. (AP Photo/John Locher)

NEW YORK (AP) - Succession planning should be a priority for small business owners, since a company's survival can depend on it. But it's often on the back burner as owners handle immediate concerns, and it's a difficult topic.

Sixty percent of owners in a survey released by insurer Nationwide said they didn't have a succession plan, and of those owners, nearly half said they didn't think it was necessary.

Good planning can involve choosing someone to take over a business when the owner retires, and it can help prepare a company to be sold.

Courtney Ellett, who owns Obsidian Public Relations in Memphis, Tennessee, says it involves "realties you don't want to think about." But she says she's thinking about providing for her children, since the business is her biggest asset.

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