sportFACHHANDEL 08_2018 Leseprobe

8.2018 Succession
Succession | COVERSTORY | 127
Kai Schröer found his way
back to the family company by
taking detours.
siness, but also additional competence in product
areas that weren’t in the same focus at Globetrotter
as they were at Woick. Subsequently, Globetrotter
closed the Woick store in Stuttgart, and integrated
the product range into their own local annex, and
continued stores in Filderstadt and Ulm, as well as
the outlet in Metzingen, in their own name. After
Globetrotter had merged into the Scandinavian
Fenix Outdoor International AG during the year
2014, the former Woick store in Filderstadt was closed
due to the lack of economic efficiency in 2016.
No matter how the succession is ultimately
regulated, for business owners it means early planning.
To many retailers the question concerning
their own pension scheme should arise. Exactly
because it isn’t a given that selling a company will
lead to being financially sorted for the rest of one’s
life, the financial reserves for old age should be
thoroughly checked and adapted if necessary. Only
then can one begin taking care of handing over the
company. In general one says, owners should begin
making the preparations by the age of 55. Creating
structures within the own company that facilitate
a takeover, is among those preparations. It should
also be clear early on, what kind of succession
plan is aimed for. Many, especially large retailers,
thereby bet on the second level of management,
which would be able to continue business without
the owner in an emergency, too. Not only does the
company become less dependent on the owner in
that case, but potential successors, whether from
one’s own family or from the ranks of the employees,
are additionally integrated into the company
hierarchy and are able to prove themselves early on.
This procedure also presents itself when a handover
to a third party is planned. On the one hand
negotiations with potential interested parties can
drag out, on the other hand a smooth transfer to a
new owner can be facilitated. Experts unanimously
suggest creating a clear handover plan which,
among others, regulates when, which processes are
to be taken over by a potential successor.
Because the problems a company transfer can
bring along, are manifold. When the owner has
found a suitable successor against all odds, it’s
mostly the case that he leaves behind his life’s work.
Saying goodbye and leaving the decision-making
power are hard what often makes it harder >>>
At Sport Schröer in Unna
three generations share
management. Therefore the
continuation is secured.