| Small business has a huge impact on the US economy, but most of them fail to survive beyond five years. Succession planning is often neglected within them, and as aging Baby Boomers reach retirement, their long-term failure poses an even greater threat to the US economy. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to predict a small business owner's level of succession planning involvement knowing a number of factors that threaten business success. The results reveal that owners' progression through specific levels of succession planning involvement is predicted by the frequency at which he or she uses functional experts. It is advised that small business owners begin to put greater emphasis on the succession planning aspect of talent management during the first six years of their business, by hiring a professional with the necessary expertise, to avoid the costs of leaving their business legacy to chance. |
