The Family Business and Succession Handbook
Management · Nº 64
The Family Business and Succession Handbook
Family, Partners, and Heirs, without Leaving Succession Until the Founder Is Gone
Succession is the talk your family keeps putting off. It happens anyway.
24 tools to set family rules for the business, choose a successor by criteria, and plan the founder's exit, with scripts, a spreadsheet, and one family business worked through start to finish.
You get 24 tools: the three circles, rules for hiring and paying relatives, the family protocol, the family council, a successor scorecard, an emergency letter, the founder's exit, and a fair inheritance. Plus a 5-tab spreadsheet and 15 ready-made texts.
A book explains the method. This handbook puts it to work: the tool, a worked example, and a spreadsheet with your numbers.
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
You started the business decades ago. Two of your kids have worked there for years, each earning the same salary because they're your kids, not because of the job they do. The third lives far away and will inherit an equal share. Nobody has said out loud who takes over. The bank relationships, the big customers, the pricing rules: all of it lives in your head. Bringing it up feels morbid, so it waits. And if it waits too long, the family sorts it out at the worst possible moment.
THE SPREADSHEET
Business family spreadsheet
Use the completed example as a reference and enter your business data in the marked fields. Check the instructions and the calculations before you make a decision.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Three situations this handbook solves
The talk nobody wants to start
You don't open with "who takes over." You open with the family map: three generations on one page, with everyone's age. The ages make the point for you. Then a Saturday at home to hear what each person wants from the business.
Two siblings want the same job
You write the role profile before any names, with the children out of the room. Family candidates and an outside executive go on the same scorecard, scored by reviewers from outside the family. Everyone hears the decision at the same time.
What if the founder is gone tomorrow?
Before any other decision, you write the emergency letter: who takes over, who runs sales and the accounts, who calls the banks and key suppliers that same day. Then your lawyer makes sure the articles of association name who manages the business if you're gone.
INSIDE
What you'll find in each tool
Five parts, in the order a family can handle them. Take a portrait of the family and the business. Write the rules: who can work there, how relatives get paid, and who reviews them. Set up family governance, from the protocol to the family council. Prepare the successor, with a role profile written before any names. Then pass the baton, with a timeline, a new role for the founder, and a split everyone can follow.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything included in your purchase
- The Family Business and Succession Handbook in PDF: 24 tools, each with a step by step, a worked example, and an exercise
- The business family spreadsheet in Excel and Google Sheets, with 5 tabs, filled in with the example family
- The Template kit: 15 ready-made texts, from the invitation to talk about the future to the emergency letter and the list for your lawyer
- 2 worksheets to fill in (the family map and the successor scorecard) and a 30-day plan, one week per stage
- Access to your handbook on the Consylion platform
Full table of contents
The 24 tools, in the order you'll use them
Part 1 · Part 1 · A portrait of the business family
- 01The three circlesFamily, owners, and management: each relative's role, kept separate
- 02The family mapThree generations on one page: who works, who owns, and who is waiting their turn
- 03Which generation owns the businessFounder, siblings, or cousins: what changes at each stage and what comes next
- 04What the family wants from the businessValues, purpose, and the agreed future on one page
- 05Succession checkupTwelve questions to measure how much the business depends on the founder
Part 2 · Part 2 · Rules between the family and the business
- 06Which relatives can work in the businessEducation, outside experience, and an open position before the last name
- 07Paying relatives for the jobA relative earns what the market pays for the role, no more and no less, without a pay cut
- 08Evaluating relatives like everyone elseA boss, targets, and a review from someone outside the family
- 09Spouses and in-lawsWho marries into the family and what they can do in the business, agreed in advance
Part 3 · Part 3 · Family governance
- 10Owners' rightsThe heir who owns shares but does not work in the business: what they receive, what they are told, and what they decide
- 11The family protocolThe family's rules about the business, decided together and signed
- 12The family councilWho takes part, how many times a year, and what gets decided there
- 13Fair decisions among relativesListen, explain the criteria, and only then decide, so the family accepts the outcome
Part 4 · Part 4 · Preparing the successor
- 14The role profile before any namesThe skills the role requires, defined before you look at the candidates
- 15Heir or outside executiveFamily candidates and an outside professional on the same scorecard
- 16The heir's development planPractice, mentoring, and coursework, with targets for the next two years
- 17What only the founder knowsCustomers, manufacturers, banks, and decisions handed to the successor in 12 months
- 18The succession advisory boardThree outsiders who support the founder and the successor
- 19The emergency successorWho takes over tomorrow if the founder is gone today, written down now
Part 5 · Part 5 · Passing the baton
- 20The transition timelineFrom the announcement to the handover, with dates and what changes at each stage
- 21The founder's new roleMonarch, general, ambassador, or governor: how to step aside without grabbing the wheel back
- 22The founder's income after stepping downHow much the founding couple needs to live on without depending on the business's cash
- 23Gifting shares, usufruct, and holding companiesThe ways to pass on the business during your lifetime and what to bring to your lawyer and accountant
- 24A fair inheritance among childrenWho gets the business, who gets other assets, and how the numbers add up for everyone
Who it's for
It's for you if
- You founded the business and want it to carry on after you, with or without one of your children in charge
- You have children or in-laws working in the business, and the rules were never written down
- You're an heir in the family business and want to know what it takes to take over
- You want to pass the business on during your lifetime, with your lawyer and accountant, without a fight among siblings
It's not for you if
- You have partners from outside the family and need a partners' agreement. That's The Business Partners Handbook
- You need to sort out the owner's personal money and retirement. See The Owner's Finances Handbook
- You want to know what the business is worth so you can sell it. Start with The Business Valuation and Sale Handbook
- You want a ready-made will or a legal structure. This handbook organizes the decisions to take to your lawyer and accountant
Frequently asked questions
The founder won't talk about succession. Where do we start?
With the emergency letter and the math on the founder's income outside the business. Both protect the founder and don't threaten anyone's place, which makes them the easiest way into the conversation.
What if none of the children wants to take over, or can?
The successor scorecard includes an outside executive from the start. The family can stay on as owner, with a family council and an advisory board looking after the business.
Two siblings want the job. How do we avoid a fight?
Publish the role profile before the names, use reviewers from outside the family, and explain the decision to everyone at the same time. The handbook walks you through a fair process, step by step.
Is this legal advice?
No. The rules on inheritance, gifts, and companies differ from country to country. The handbook organizes the family's decisions and, wherever local rules matter, tells you what to confirm with your lawyer and accountant. The Template kit includes the list to bring them.
Is the family protocol legally binding?
It's an agreement within the family. Whatever needs to bind the owners goes into the articles of association and the partners' agreement, with your lawyer. The protocol is where the family agrees on the rules first.
How much time does this take?
About 2 hours and 24 minutes of reading, or 6 minutes per tool, plus the exercises. The handover itself takes years, not weeks: in the example, the family starts in 2026 and passes the role in January 2029.
What do I get, and in what formats?
Each handbook is a PDF of about 100 pages with 24 to 27 tools. Every tool has step-by-step instructions and a worked example. You also get the handbook's spreadsheet in Excel (.xlsx), which opens in Google Sheets too, with the example already filled in. The message, policy, and clause templates are in the Template Kit inside the PDF, ready to copy and adapt. Read it in the member area or download the files.
How do I know if it fits my business?
Each handbook's page shows the problem it solves, who it is for and who it is not for, the full table of contents, sample pages, and the company used in the examples. The examples come from small businesses in several industries, with illustrative numbers. If it is not a fit, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of your purchase, as described in the Refund Policy.
What is the difference between a handbook, an area set, and the Series?
A handbook solves one problem. An area set brings together every handbook and spreadsheet in one of the 6 areas, for less than the price of 5 single handbooks. The Consylion Handbook Series brings together all 100 handbooks and 100 spreadsheets, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks, and includes the next handbooks in the Series. Products outside the Series, from Consylion Life or Consylion Business, have their own price. They are sold separately and are not part of an area set or the Series.
Do I need to read everything before I start?
No. Each tool works on its own. Open the table of contents, pick the tool for today's problem, and start there. You can also read it cover to cover.
Do I need to know Excel?
The basics are enough: open the file and fill in the marked fields. The formulas are already built, and the handbook's example is filled in for reference.
How do I pay, and when do I get access?
By card or bank transfer, as a one-time payment with no subscription. Once your payment is confirmed, you get access to the member area by email. Approved card payments are confirmed right away. Bank transfers are confirmed when the funds clear. If access does not arrive within 24 hours of confirmation, check your spam folder and write to team@consylion.org.
How long do I have access, and how can I use the files?
Access does not expire, and you can download the files for offline use. The license is individual. You may read the handbooks, print them for your own use, and fill in and adapt the spreadsheet and templates with your company's data. If you are a consultant, accountant, or manager, you may apply the tools with your clients and deliver the result of your work, not the files. You may not share, resell, or distribute the files or the access.
How do support and refunds work?
Support is by email at team@consylion.org, on business days, with a reply within 5 business days. It covers questions about access, files, and payment. It does not include consulting or advice on applying the material to your case. You can cancel within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason, and get the full amount back through the payment method you used. Send the request to the same email. The details are in the Refund Policy.
CONSYLION HANDBOOK SERIES
The 6 departments of your business, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks.
This handbook solves today's problem. The Series solves the next one, and the one after that, with nothing more to pay.
- 100 handbooks with 2,403 ready-made tools, to read on screen and download as PDFs
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One-time payment of $197.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Management · Nº 64
Decide succession while everyone is at the table
Succession happens one way or another. This handbook gives your family the tools, a spreadsheet, and the scripts to talk about it during a calm stretch, choose by criteria, and plan the handover with dates. A spreadsheet won't fix a family. It can give the conversation a place to start.
See all 100 handbooks · $197.00
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.