FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Whether you’re starting a business or are a long-time entrepreneur, having a business succession plan can help you determine what happens if you step away from your company.<\/p>\n
“It can look a few different ways — unfortunately, one way is at your passing,” says Plancorp Senior Wealth Manager Wade Wallace. “What happens to everything when you’re no longer there but more traditionally, it’s when you’re retiring or you have a health concern and you need to step away.”<\/p>\n
Wallace says no two succession plans are alike.<\/p>\n
Their team, based in north Fresno, works with Central Valley business owners in determining what they want to achieve both personally and professionally.<\/p>\n
“They’re thinking about payroll, paying their employees, paying themselves, making sure customers are happy,” Wallace said. “Really what takes a backseat is how will I sell this one day and turn it into an income stream for retirement.”<\/p>\n
Things to keep in mind — financial considerations and non-financial considerations.<\/p>\n
“Do you have a leadership structure in place? Do you have a management structure? And then also just because you have the right structure doesn’t mean you have the right people,” Wallace said.<\/p>\n
Wallace says documenting the process and procedures on paper helps with the financial considerations, including a business valuation if you want to sell.<\/p>\n
There are several options when considering a sale of a business.<\/p>\n
“There are ways to sell to your staff via something called an employee stock ownership plan,” Wallace said. “You can sell to an independent third party, and you can also sell to your family through intra-family estate planning and transfers in that way.”<\/p>\n
You can sell all at once or pieces of the business over time.<\/p>\n
“When people know all of these options, they can start to eliminate the ones that don’t make sense for them and then really focus in on the ones that could possibly make sense, and then we work with people on what are the pros and cons of each,” Wallace said.<\/p>\n
Click here to learn more about Plancorp Wealth Management<\/a> and the services they offer.<\/p>\n For news updates, follow Vanessa Vasconcelos on Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n