Journal

Succession insights

Practical perspectives on preparing and executing a business succession worldwide, with Swiss expertise.

  1. The Son-in-Law or Daughter-in-Law Who Takes Over: Three Myths That Slow the Handover

    A son-in-law or daughter-in-law taking over a family SME is not just another outside hire. Three myths that complicate this specific case.

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  2. The Tax Ruling Before Selling a Business: Locking In the Treatment in Advance

    A tax ruling before a sale is not right for every file. The criteria that separate cases where it matters from those where it is wasted effort.

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  3. Private or Business Wealth: The Tax Status That Decides What You Owe on the Sale

    The tax status of shares you sell is built years before closing. The timeline that protects a tax-free capital gain in Switzerland.

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  4. What a management team that runs without you actually costs

    External hire or internal promotion: real CHF ranges and timelines to build a leadership team that functions without the founder.

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  5. Selling in Lots: What to Decide Before Splitting Up the Deal

    Selling each activity to the buyer who values it most, instead of one buyer for the whole: nine points to settle before splitting an SME for sale.

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  6. Industrial SMEs or Service SMEs: Two Successions That Do Not Look Alike

    A workshop and a consulting firm do not sell on the same timeline, to the same buyers, or against the same risks in an SME succession.

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  7. There is no Swiss succession timeline, there are twenty six

    The generic succession timeline hides cantonal gaps, tax rulings, notarial systems, registries, real estate, that change everything for a Swiss SME sale.

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  8. What to Do With Your Days, Once the Company Is Sold

    The concrete questions owners ask about their days after selling: a new venture, board seats, volunteering, rhythm, boredom.

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  9. Earn-out with a job attached, or a clean exit: what should decide it

    Staying on payroll under an earn-out or negotiating a firm price and leaving right away: the criteria that should actually decide it.

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  10. No Longer the Boss: What a Sale Changes in How Others See You

    A letter to whoever is about to sell: the title fades faster than the grief does, and how people see you starts shifting before you notice.

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