Succession planning is critical for any business to survive beyond the current generation, and especially so when it comes to family businesses. Yet according to a PwC US Family Business Survey, 73 percent of family business owners in the US admit they don’t have a documented succession plan in place.

That’s one reason why only around 12 percent of businesses survive into the third generation. In Canada, business founders have only a 3 percent chance their business will survive and their grandchildren will run it, according to the article “Succession Planning in Family Business – Freud and Finance.”

While family business owners may assume their business will pass along to their heirs and thrive under the new owners’ stewardship, they have not taken the necessary steps to ensure a successful transfer of ownership.

If you own a family business and don’t have a plan in place, the time to start is now. As you consider what steps to take, ask your children this one question first, as suggested in the article above: Do they love the business enough to risk their own capital to buy it, over time?

If they don’t share your passion for the business and love it enough to invest their own money, as you did, they may not be the best people to manage it for growth in the future.

For more steps on passing your business to your children, please read “Should You Give Your Kids Your Business? 2 Factors to Consider.”