Nipawin’s economic development officer wants to collaborate with local businesspeople planning to sell their businesses to ensure new owners are found and it stays open.
In a report to Nipawin council, Jayne Remenda said there’s a number of Nipawin businesses that are either for sale or are considering selling. She said a desire to sell doesn’t mean the business is in trouble, instead it could mean the owner wants to retire or move on.
“That’s what sparked the report to council, to just let them know we’re aware of a few businesses that are up for sale, and to try to be proactive and assist with finding investors for those,” she said.
Few businesses have a succession plan in place. Remenda said it can take a while to get one in place.
“Typically, you need to start those plans five to seven years in advance of wanting to dissolve your business, leave your business or sell your business.”
The economic development officer said she’ll meet with businesses that she’s either heard are selling or planning to sell and offer assistance.
“I know the local realtors are amazing at doing their job at finding investors but there’s also some other vehicles that we can use.”
For instance, the town keeps an inventory of business investment opportunities that it promotes to potential buyers. There’s also companies available that run services where those interested in selling can create a profile of their business and then those profiles could be matched up with interested buyers – somewhat like an online dating service.
For businesses passed down for generations, there might not be a plan in place until the child decides to pursue another career – something that’s becoming more common. In that case, the economic development officer can provide some advice.
“There’s things like working on employees purchasing shares in the company and just keeping the company going and keeping the current owner on for mentorship for a few years,” Remenda said.
The economic development officer said the key is to ensure communication.
“Sometimes there’s a lot of people that may be interested in taking over a business but haven’t really thought about what that would take or where they can get financing and that sort of thing, so we just want to be the communicators, the go-between, to make sure that people are getting the information that they need.”
Business succession planning isn’t the only item that Remenda is working on. Over the spring, she’ll be conducting business retention and expansion interviews with local businesses to find out what businesspeople are concerned about. The results of those interviews will shape the economic development officer’s work plan over the coming years.
