Prepare the handover of your family business
15 minutes · free · no obligation
Your contact
How does Optima support a business handover?
Optima Solutions supports the operational preparation of business succession in family-run SMEs. We document working processes, preserve practical knowledge and clarify responsibilities between the outgoing and incoming generations. This identifies tasks that still depend on individuals and the preparation needed before the handover.
We start with a shared overview: who currently decides on quotes, staffing or customer issues? Which rules are known only through conversation? We then agree which knowledge to transfer first and how successors will practise their new tasks in daily work. Software implementation can be included if it supports the handover.
Your contact is Emanuel Stadler, MA, who comes from a fifth-generation family business. Optima works with companies in Austria and the German-speaking region. Legal structuring, tax advice and business valuation are separate fields and are not part of this service. We can coordinate operational work with your existing advisers. The initial call establishes the current stage of your handover.
Business succession
What needs to be clear before the handover
A handover date alone does not establish whether the new management can run daily operations. Check which decisions automatically go to the senior owner and whether others can find the information they need.
We identify these dependencies with both generations and turn them into tasks with owners and dates. Different expectations about future working methods can then be discussed before they lead to conflicting instructions on a customer order.
Business succession
A handover plan for everyday work
We start with processes whose failure would immediately affect the business. Successors take on individual tasks gradually and have time to ask questions. The outgoing owner reviews results without retaining every decision indefinitely.
- Decisions: establish who approves quotes and handles exceptions.
- Knowledge: document calculation rules, contacts and established practices.
- Access: organise business systems, permissions and cover arrangements.
- Communication: explain future responsibilities to staff and important business partners.
Business succession
Digitalise where it helps the transition
A shared customer file or a clear order overview can make delegation easier. Replacing every system at once can overload the team. We prioritise changes according to the handover’s needs and the capacity of the business.
New processes are tested on actual tasks. Documentation is useful when the person taking over can work with it and identify missing information.
Business succession
A practical example: a joinery business in Lower Austria
In our anonymised reference project, the senior owner’s calculation methods were documented before the handover from father to daughter. This included exceptions and experience-based rules that had not been written down.
Digital job folders, checklists and industry software then supported the transfer of tasks. The example covers the operational side of succession, not tax structuring or business valuation.
Business succession
How our work fits into succession advice
Business succession may involve contracts, ownership, financing or finding a buyer. Our focus is the ability to operate during and after the transition. Other tasks belong with the relevant specialist advisers.
For a broader overview, WKO describes the fields covered by specialist handover consultants.
Preparation
Four questions for your first handover discussion
- Which tasks can currently only the outgoing owner perform?
- Who will take them over, and when?
- Which decisions are still pending?
- How will both generations recognise that a task has been successfully handed over?
Scope and cost
How we define the scope and price
The first 15-minute call is free. We then agree on the scope, such as process mapping, knowledge transfer or support for individual handover stages. Where a defined process assessment is suitable, Diagnostic & Roadmap is available for €3,900 excluding VAT. That price does not cover the entire business succession.
FAQ
Questions about this service
Do you also handle business sales and valuation?
This page covers our operational support. Business valuation, buyer searches and legal or tax structuring are not part of this offer. We can account for the work of your specialist advisers in the plan.
Do both generations need to join the workshops?
Joint agreement is important for roles, decisions and priorities. Individual processes are documented with those who hold the knowledge or will take over the task.
When should we start?
Once a change in responsibility is foreseeable. The preparation time depends on the number of tasks and people involved and how well the knowledge is documented. We plan for successors to practise while support is still available.
Where should we start?
Tell us what is holding up your daily work. We will discuss whether and how we can help.
Your contact: Emanuel Stadler, MA
15 minutes · free · no obligation