“Succession planning takes time—it can’t be rushed. The average family business succession takes eight years.” – Start Here by Sara B. Stern

The two books I own, written by Sara B. Stern are:

  • Start Here – A Guide for Family Business Succession
  • Married to the Family Business – A Handbook for Spouses of Family Business Owners

Warning, these are not “feel good” books, they will make you face up to some family business realities you may have been trying not to think about. I read these as an advisor to business owners and the message still made me shift in my seat a bit. This is precisely why you should read these books.

Sara’s style in these books is a combination of providing insights from her experience and work and asking challenging questions. She also puts you to work with commands such as “Write them here.” If you want to get it right Sara is going to make you work but she does not dump it on you all at once. Make the changes you need to make one chapter at a time. Thank you Sara for writing these.

On Friday January 27, 2023 Sara and I spent ten minutes catching up and talking about her books on a Zoom Call. Here is the video. If I do say so myself it is a good watch.

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