From Founder to Future: How to navigate a family business succession

By Ross Boissoneau

July 2026

Passing down a family business from one generation to another is a time-honored tradition. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Kathy and Jessica Follett with Lucy

“You’d be surprised how many people don’t like their kids,” said Bob Boesiger. A partner and managing director at the accounting, consulting and advisory firm UHY Advisors, he wasn’t speaking entirely in jest.

He has worked with numerous business owners over the years, from those with the next generation in the business and readying to run the firm when it’s their time, to those who show up simply to please their parent, as well as families where succeeding generations simply aren’t interested in the family business or aren’t viewed as competent caretakers by the current generation.

He said the ramifications of not planning ahead can have a deleterious impact on the business.

“I have an 80-year-old billionaire with four kids in the business who went to the office to see dad,” he said.

They would simply show up 15 minutes before he arrived and leave 15 minutes after, without much interest or input into the company. When their father became incapacitated without a plan in place, they were left scrambling to try to sell the business so they could pay the inheritance tax.

The inheritance tax is a particular area that Boesiger says can cause problems without proper planning. “I’m not a fan,” he said tersely.

That’s why having children purchase into the business ahead of a sudden need can be a lifesaver.

Golden Shoes

Golden Shoes actually started as a two-generation business when father and son Nathaniel and Willard Golden purchased the downtown Traverse City shoe store in 1954. After Nathaniel died in 1969, Willard took full ownership, running the store with the help of his eldest children and employees. That same year, his son Craig became a partner, working alongside his father until Willard retired in 1972.

Current co-owner Bill Golden, Willard’s son and Craig’s brother, joined the business just a few years later. Another brother, Jocko, also worked at the store for a time. 

“It was what I wanted to do,” Bill said simply. 

When Willard died in 2012, Craig and Bill became co-owners. In July 2023, a fourth generation arrived in the person of Nate Cook, who married Craig and Bill’s niece. He bought out Craig, who retired after 54 years of working at Golden Shoes. Today, Nate and Bill co-own Golden Shoes.

“It’s very important to our family, and to downtown Traverse City,” said Bill Golden, referring to the store’s longevity in the middle of downtown.

While it may seem like a logical progression, that doesn’t mean it was easy. But setting up agreements ahead of time helps keep things from bogging down in any untoward family squabbles.

“We have an agreement. Neither of us can sell to someone else that isn’t agreed upon,” said Bill. “There’s a right way to do it.”

Phillip and Joe Yancho

Yancho Family Dentistry

Yancho Family Dentistry is another example of a generational family business. Dr. Phillip Yancho started the business in 1987. Today his son Joe is a partner, and the hope is daughter Hannah joins them.

“As soon as he said he wanted to go to dental school, I hoped he would return,” said Phil.

The younger Yancho said growing up in the business and seeing how people responded to his father’s work – and how much his dad enjoyed it – prompted him to consider dentistry from an early age.  

“I saw how happy and fulfilled he was,” said Joe.

The younger Yancho went to dental school on a Navy scholarship, and after his time in the service returned home to join the family business.

“Joe hired in as an associate first with the idea he would buy in to the practice,” said Phil.

Hannah is currently practicing dentistry in Madison, Wisconsin. Phil says he hopes when she returns – which is the plan – the three can work together before he retires.

“I hope both are back in Traverse City, and that’s the intent,” he said.

The Concrete Service

Ryan Critchfield offers another path to continuing involvement in a family business. He and his wife Andrea are the majority owners of The Concrete Service, started by his wife’s family nearly 100 years ago.

“In 1932, my wife’s grandfather started a block company,” said Critchfield.

Founder Ralph Samuelson soon began designing and selling his own original block plants, while also creating blocks which helped build places like the Park Place and the Bijou.

“Their handprint is all over the city,” Critchfield said.

Critchfield

He sold to his sons Bob and Don Samuelson, who had grown up in the business and earned construction business degrees from Michigan State University, says Critchfield, who got his own start in the business in 1994 – though it wasn't his first choice.

A lifelong musician, his intent was to make it big in Music City.

“My plan was to move to Nashville. My wife wanted to stay rooted here. They offered me a job to keep us here. It worked,” he said with a laugh.

With the team in place and a mentor in long-time employee Tim Butler, Critchfield learned the ropes of running the business – but not the equipment, he’s quick to say.

“I can’t run a block machine. It would be a train wreck,” he said.

They are already planning ahead for the next generation. In 2023, The Concrete Service purchased Blue Star Landscape Supply. Now Ryan and Andrea’s son Sam is running that company.

Pets Naturally

For Jessica Follett, the path to ownership of Pets Naturally came – well, naturally. Her mother Kathy had started the business when she couldn’t find the healthful food she wanted for her Boston terrier Lucy. Fast forward and Jessica had tired of corporate life and was looking for a business in her hometown of Traverse City.

“Mom wasn’t looking to sell, but we talked, and decided this was the time,” Jessica said.

Jessica was comfortable living in New York City and working in corporate sales and marketing, including a lengthy stint in advertising sales for Yelp. So why Pets Naturally?

“I wanted to find something I was passionate about,” Jessica said. “I have a dog and love cats.”

Her dog is also a Boston terrier, and was already named Lucy when she adopted it.

Exit Strategy

Nussbaum

Those in the business of working with families on such transitions say it's important to do the work ahead of time, in terms of the business’s value and philosophy to make sure everyone understands the process before moving forward.

“It’s not a one size fits all,” added Andrew Nussbaum of Golden Circle Advisors.

“It’s one of the biggest decisions of your life. You need an advisor to help you think it through. One of the primary things an advisor can help you do is think through the options for an exit,” he said.

In other words, making sure that the value is understood by everyone and that the owner is assured of the best – or at least adequate – return on the sale. While there may be a family discount in place, without knowing the true value of the company, a sale within the family can cause strife later on.