Ever since you started your own business, you hoped it would be a business that stayed in the family. You imagined leaving it to your children or having them come work with you. You thought they could take over and run the business when you were done.

However, you are now in your late sixties and you’re thinking about retiring. Your children are in their forties and they have careers of their own. None of them actually want your business, and they’re far too busy to run it. What do you do now?

Most people just sell the business

You have a lot of different options, but the most common decision is for the business owner to sell the business. They find a third party who would like to take it over and they sell the business outright. They can then leave the money to their children, which means that you still get to leave them an inheritance based on the business you built up, even if it isn’t the business itself.

You may also want to consider choosing a different successor. Maybe you have a different family member who is interested, such as a niece or nephew. Perhaps you have employees within the company that would like to buy it from you and take over. You need to explore all these options carefully, as different steps will be needed to make it possible.

No matter what you decide to do, it’s very important to understand all the legal steps you need to take, the rights you have and the obligations necessary to transfer ownership of your business.