This article by Julius Giarmarco struck a chord with me.  Julius and I are in agreement that business succession planning is about transferring management, transferring ownership, and minimizing the tax consequences.  From my experience, there is also a fourth level, and that is planning the future for the exiting owner.   Often the sticking points are in transferring management and planning the future.  The team of advisors can develop a great exit plan that transfers ownership and minimizes taxes, but the exiting owner must identify and develop the new manager. The best buy/sell or other agreement won't work if the new managers aren't ready.   Often the inability of the exiting owner to imagine a future where he/she is not in charge of the business can get in the way of developing a new generation of management.  That's why the process can have a long lead time and why the advisor team may need to include business consultants and even family therapists at times.