| Symbol | Sc | Number | 28 | Family | Sc Transfer | Position | I1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scored as | Against a target | Compounds | None | Worked in | Sell | Pillar | Deal readiness |
§1 Definition
What succession is
A named, tested plan for who leads after the owner.
Succession is a named, tested plan for who leads the company after you. It applies whether you plan to sell, hand the business to family or management, or simply step back. A buyer wants to know who runs the business the day after closing, and an unanswered question here becomes a lower price or a longer earn-out.
In a $3M to $30M business the successor is often already on the payroll but has never been told, tested, or given the authority to prove it.
Use cases
Naming a successor and telling them, giving them ownership of increasingly significant decisions, planning owner absences to test the plan, and deciding whether the plan involves equity so that the terms are set before a buyer is at the table.
The transfer family
Evidence that the company runs the same on day one under new ownership. Transfer elements are what diligence tests.
Transferability. What lets the company run the same on day one under new ownership: procedures, seats, a data room, a successor.
Meet the family§2 Measurement
What the assay measures
A named successor for the owner’s role, with a written plan and evidence of testing through owner absence and delegated authority.
- Critical gap
- 0 to 24
- Leaking value
- 25 to 49
- Developing
- 50 to 74
- Strong
- 75 to 100
How the scale reads
- Every element is scored from 0 to 100 against what a sophisticated buyer expects at close.
- Risk elements are scored as control: higher is safer.
- Inputs are recorded, not targeted.
- Outcomes are derived from their feeding families.
§3 Pathway
The path from succession to enterprise value
Every element feeds a family, and every family feeds an outcome. The chain below is the route this element's score takes into the number a buyer pays.
§4 Position
The transfer series
4 elements share the family. Read them together: a buyer prices them as a group.
§5 Compounds
Succession stands alone
This element is not part of a named compound. It is priced on its own, through the family it belongs to.
§6 In the FNDRS journey
Where succession gets worked
The assay scores it. The process, the pillars, and the platform move it. Table 2 lists every place this element is on the agenda.
| Where | What happens | Alongside | Go |
|---|---|---|---|
| StageSell | Maximize value and optionality. Prepare, position, market, negotiate, and transact so the outcome is the best risk-adjusted one for the owner. Or hold, from a position of strength. | SyCcDrEvOp | The process |
| Pillar of valueDeal readiness | Preparation is leverage. A company that can answer a buyer's first twenty questions on day one closes faster, at the agreed price, with nothing surfacing in diligence that was not already disclosed. | DrLcTdEvOp | The pillar |
§7 In the valuation
How FNDRS tracks succession
Tracked Low leverage
FNDRS tracks the signals behind this element and reports on them. The element itself does not move the FNDRS number; where it is report-only it never touches the price.
What FNDRS reads
Months the owner will stay through the transition, and whether further involvement has been decided.
The involvement answer is report-only and never moves the price.
How the table meets the numberFind out where your succession stands
The exit score is the first assay: fifteen minutes, six pillars, and a first read on the elements that matter most.