Selling Your Business to Your Employees: A Succession Planning Option

Send us Fan Mail What happens to a local business when its owner is ready to retire? For many communities, the answer could mean losing jobs, local investment, and businesses that have been part of the community for generations. But what if the next owners are already working there? On this episode of Chamber Amplified, Doug Jenkins talks with Chris Cooper of the Ohio Employee Ownership Center at Kent State University and Ginny Vanderslice, co-founder of Praxis Consulting Group and a leader in employee-owned business leadership development. Inspired by the Ohio Employee Ownership Center's publication Selling Your Business to Employees, the conversation explores how employee ownership can provide an alternative to selling to an outside buyer or closing a business entirely. They discuss: Why retiring business owners present a growing challenge for local economies How Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and other employee ownership models work How employees can become owners without personally financing the purchase Why developing future leaders is essential to a successful ownership transition Whether employee ownership can work for smaller businesses How early business owners should begin succession planning Whether you're a business owner thinking about retirement, an employee interested in ownership opportunities, or someone concerned about the future of local businesses, this conversation offers a different way to think about business succession. Learn more about the Ohio Employee Ownership Center: https://www.oeockent.org Music and sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com