When family businesses talk about succession, the conversation usually turns to shares, roles and timing. Far less is said about the commercial position the next generation inherits.
Yet that may be the most decisive part of the legacy.
Are you leaving the next generation a legacy to build on, or one they first have to repair?
A foundation or a task
There are two kinds of legacy. One gives the successor something to build on: a relevant proposition, healthy customer relationships, a sales approach that does not depend on one person. The other hands over a list of things that still need fixing before anything new can begin.
From the outside both look the same. The company is profitable, the name is known, customers are loyal. The difference only becomes visible once the successor starts.
Where the commercial legacy hides
Often in relationships. Key customers who buy because of the founder, not because of the company. Agreements that were never written down. Pricing that made sense years ago and has not been questioned since.
Sometimes in the proposition itself. A product that carried the business for a generation can be at the end of its cycle without anyone saying so out loud, precisely because it has always worked.
And sometimes in the team. When commercial knowledge sits with one or two people, it leaves with them.
Start before the handover
The best time to work on the commercial legacy is while the current leader is still there. Introduce the next generation to key customers early, as a partner, not as an assistant. Make relationships belong to the company. Look honestly at which parts of the proposition still have a future.
That is not a judgement on what the previous generation built. It is respect for it: making sure it can continue under someone else's name.
Questions worth staying with
Which customers buy from you personally, rather than from the company?
Which part of your proposition would you not start today?
What would your successor have to solve first, before they can build?