Succession Planning for Family Businesses

Plan with clarity. Transition with confidence.
Protect what your family has built.

Succession Planning for Family Businesses

Plan with clarity.
Transition with confidence.
Protect what your family has built.

Succession planning is one of the most complex—and consequential—decisions a family business will face. It touches ownership, leadership, family relationships, and the long-term health of the enterprise.

Many families know succession planning matters, but aren’t sure where to start—or how to move forward without creating tension or uncertainty.

Prairie Family Business Association (PFBA) supports family businesses at every stage of succession planning, from early conversations to implementation and beyond—so transitions are intentional, informed, and supported.

Download the Free Succession Planning Guide

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Succession Planning for Family Businesses

Getting from Intention to Action

Most family business owners understand that succession planning matters. What’s harder is turning good intentions into a successful transition. Without clarity, structure, and support, even well-meaning plans can stall—often until options narrow and risk increases.

Only a small percentage of family businesses successfully transition across generations. The gap isn’t commitment—it’s execution. Transitions most often falter not because families lack commitment, but because planning is delayed while “everything feels fine,” handled informally through assumptions rather than clarity, or undertaken without outside perspective or proven frameworks.

A documented, intentional succession plan helps families:

  • Reduce uncertainty and align expectations

  • Preserve family relationships alongside business continuity

  • Protect long-term value before, during, and after the transition

At Prairie Family Business Association, we support family businesses in moving succession planning from intention to a thoughtful, actionable process—so both the business and the family can thrive for generations.

How PFBA Supports Family Business Succession

PFBA provides practical, relationship-centered support designed specifically for family enterprises—not generic business transitions.

education

Education & Tools

Succession-focused webinars, workshops, and guides grounded in real-world family business experience.

networking

Peer Learning & Perspective

Opportunities to learn alongside other family business owners, hear what worked (and what didn’t), and normalize hard conversations.

nextgen

Trusted Advisors & Resources

Access to vetted advisors and programming that bridges strategy, governance, and family relationships.

PFBA meets families where they are—whether succession is five years away or already underway.

Interested in ongoing succession and family business support through PFBA?

Start a Conversation

Top Tips for Succession Planning

from PFBA Member Lloyd Companies

Take the first step.
Learn what worked for other family businesses.
Know you are never finished planning.
Build a team around you – internal & external.
Empower your team.
Communicate the vision & values to all stakeholders.
Make a difference. Build things greater than yourself.
Succession Planning FAQs for Family Businesses

FREE Guide to Navigating Succession Conversations with Confidence

You may be wondering – “Where do I start?”

Use this guide to move from uncertainty to informed conversation. It helps family businesses challenge common myths, reflect on what matters most, and begin productive succession conversations across generations.

Get the Resource

Get Your Free Guide to Succession Conversations

Acknowledging the uniqueness of your family's situation is crucial, and this guide aims to be a supportive starting point rather than a definitive roadmap.

Succession Planning Download

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succession planning conversation guide from pfba free resource

How PFBA Has Supported Real Succession Transitions

How PFBA Has Supported Real Succession Transitions

"The entire process of succession planning is what has helped us grow to where we are.

I feel like we were holding ourselves back by not having this conversation about succession and growing our team and building things out. It’s scary to do, it’s an investment, but the more engaged team members you have in play, the more they wanted to build things. It left us thinking, ‘How did we not do this earlier?’”

– Christie Ernst, Lloyd Companies – Sioux Falls, SD, 3rd Gen.

“There’s so much emotion that goes into the whole mix, dealing with your own family, and PFBA just has it figured out to help families get through that.

We all got a lot out of it. There were some tears, good quality time and some laughter. That was the moment for me to say, ‘This is really working, and we need to make this happen.’”

– Abigail Woodford, Interim Health Care - Minneapolis, MN, 2nd Gen.

Talk with PFBA about Succession Support

You don’t have to do this alone.

Succession planning is a process, it's not a one-time decision. PFBA supports family businesses as they navigate succession with clarity, confidence, and care at every stage of the journey.

If you have questions, want to talk through your situation, or are exploring what support could look like, we’re here to help.

Start the Conversation.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name*
By providing your email, you opt in to receive occasional email and marketing communications from our firm only. You may opt out at any time.

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