Why do business families delay the inevitable: Succession planning?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. I am often asked why it should matter so much: “After all, succession planning is just about naming a successor." Well, it’s not just a matter of passing the baton along, but more about ensuring harmony, stability and long-term success for both promoter families and their businesses. Succession planning is often seen as one of those essential tasks that everyone agrees is important, but few approach with any urgency.

It’s the proverbial elephant in the room—acknowledged, but seldom acted upon until a sense of immediacy or crisis forces the conversation. In the context of Indian family businesses, this delay can be attributed to deeper human tendencies and a complex web of emotions that tie individuals to their roles and responsibilities. Take the case of, say, an industrialist who at 70-plus continues to spearhead his business.

His achievements would be many, and his identity inseparable from the company he built from the ground up. He recognises the inevitability of succession, yet the conversations around it remain vague, informal and constantly deferred. There’s always something more pressing, more immediate, to deal with.

A new acquisition, an expansion, a regulatory shift—running the business demands all his attention, and succession planning gets quietly pushed down the priority list. It is a pattern that repeats itself in many organizations, large or small. After all, discussing succession feels like admitting one’s mortality—a notion that even the most pragmatic of leaders subconsciously avoid.

Human psychology plays a significant role here. As individuals, we tend to focus on what’s urgent rather than what’s important. Succession planning, by its very nature, is about the