When clients called, it was me they were calling, not necessarily a firm. I decided I wanted there to be something that could continue without me. Norelli's kids weren't going to be ready to take over any time soon. So he knew he needed a plan. Norelli's forethought made him unusual.
Few entrepreneurs formulate succession plans before tragedy strikes.
That's in no small part because most lack a succession plan. Minn. Many are too busy running their companies to consider anything else, she says. And that's the hard part, as Norelli discovered. Norelli thought he had a good plan, though a serious illness in the family kept him from acting on it until 1995. He decided to seek an outsider to inherit his throne and buy him out.