Building With the End in Mind: A Complete Succession Planning Guide for Professional Service Owners

What if your professional services firm could outlast you—and thrive across generations?

From technology consultants and healthcare providers to wealth advisors, tax professionals, and legal experts, many of today’s most vital services are delivered through small, specialized firms. But there’s a problem: most of these practices are built to end with the founder. One-generation and done.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

This book is your step-by-step guide to building something bigger—something durable. With 50 succinct, hard-hitting lessons, you’ll learn how to create a business that is valuable, profitable, investable, and able to grow well beyond your career. Unlike selling to a third party, succession planning is a gradual transition of ownership and leadership—often over 10 to 20 years. If done right, it can change not just your exit, but your entire approach to building and leading your firm.

Inside, you'll learn:

• How to structure multi-owner, multi-generational business models

• What makes a firm truly investable (and what holds most back)

• How to attract and retain next-gen talent through ownership pathways

• Why early planning—years in advance—is the key to success

Written for first-generation (G1) founders and their advisors, this book is also an essential resource for attorneys, accountants, valuation specialists, and bankers supporting succession planning.

Leave a legacy worthy of your hard work and thoughtfulness. Build with the end in mind.

(Book 1 of a 2 PART SERIES by this author – this book is written for current owners, founders, or first generation (G1) professional service providers)

© 2025 Business Transitions Publishing, LLC (Audiobook): 9798991262965

Release date

Audiobook: 30 April 2025