If you own a business in New Zealand and you’re over 50, what you’re about to read is one of the most important messages you’ll hear this year.
Business owners have survived Covid, labour shortages, inflation, supply chain pressure, and a tidal wave of operational headaches. But beneath all of that, there is a far bigger challenge quietly forming — one that will impact almost every owner planning to retire, sell, or step back in the next decade.
And most business owners don’t see it coming.
The Hidden Iceberg Below the Surface Is Easy To Avoid
Succession and exit expert Phil Wicks — alongside the BSP Advisory team nationwide — has helped NZ business owners unlock more than $15 million in extra value before exiting.
Most of that money would have been lost forever without early planning.
Here’s the reality facing NZ business owners:
142,000+ small businesses across the country
40% of owners plan to exit within the next five years
60% are relying on the sale of their business to fund retirement
70% have no exit or succession plan
That last number is the real danger.
A business without a plan is like a ship heading toward an unseen iceberg — everything looks fine on the surface, but beneath it sits the risk of:
declining performance
owner burnout
sudden health issues
market downturns
pressure to sell too quickly
And when owners hit that iceberg, the sale price drops dramatically.
The good news?
With the right STEP pathway, it’s completely avoidable.
Where STEP Fits In
The STEP Programme was designed to solve this exact problem for NZ owner-operators.
For owners over 50, most will naturally fall into the STEP OUT category — preparing for succession, transition, or sale.
But here’s the twist:
Before most owners can Step Out, they need elements of STEP Up (systems, structure, margin) and STEP Back (leadership depth, reduced owner dependency).
This combination is what lifts business value — often significantly and makes it easier to attract a good buyer.
What Is Exit & Succession Planning Really About?
Exit Planning refers to the process of helping the business owner(s) leave or exit the business and ensures that a successful transition of ownership will transpire in a timely, efficient and effective manner.
Exit planning isn’t about “selling a business.”
It’s about:
Removing owner dependency
Building leadership and stability
Strengthening financial visibility
Systemising processes
Improving profit and performance
Increasing attractiveness to any buyer
Giving the owner optionality — family, staff, open market, or even staying involved part-time
It’s the difference between leaving by choice, versus leaving by force due to burnout or declining performance.
Why Planning Matters (Especially for Owners Over 50)
We see the same pattern across NZ:
Owners wait too long
Business performance dips
Health and lifestyle pressure increases
Profitability slides
The business becomes harder to sell
The sale price shrinks — sometimes by 30–60%
The tragedy?
Most of this is avoidable.
When owners start planning early, the value increases, not decreases.
Check out Toni and Keiths story here
What should every business owner planning to sell or retire in the next 5 years be doing?
Get the Business Ready
This is the “preparation” phase — the part most owners skip.
You need to know:
Is the business low-risk in the eyes of a buyer?
Are your numbers and systems clear and trustworthy?
Is the business too reliant on you?
Could you improve value by waiting 12–24 months?
Could leadership depth or new systems lift the sale price?
This is STEP Up and STEP Back territory.
What are the benefits of an effective succession plan?
Structured leadership development
Retention of valuable staff
More value in the business at the time of sale
Improved systems and KPI measurements
Potential increase in sales and profits
Potentially less time in the business for the owner due to successful leadership development
Now, here's the exciting thing about succession planning.
We get situations where a business owner comes to us looking to sell the business in maybe two or three years' time. And through that process and planning stages, there's often some leadership development.
On numerous occasions, the business owner with our guidance has developed some really good leadership in the business and accordingly they've improved their business significantly.
The business is doing really well, and because of the leadership development, the business owner isn't putting in the type of hours they were in the past.
We see examples where the business owner has actually cut their hours down to 25 hours a week from 55 hours a week and is collecting more income as the business is doing significantly better financially.
In turn, the focus on selling the business becomes less urgent.
The business has also become more valuable as the company has become less reliant on the owner and we see firsthand how leadership or the development of leadership can play a really important part.
And of course, it can also play an even more important part further down the track because potentially there could be people that you're developing within your business that are the perfect people to actually buy your business.
Other interested parties could be family, business partners, shareholders, employees or outside interests.
Some key points around succession planning
1. Don’t exit without a plan
Hope is not a strategy — especially for retirement.
2. Get expert support
A STEP-trained advisor has done this dozens of times.
3. Strengthen systems & leadership early
This creates profit, stability, and value.
4. Don’t delay
Aging owners + declining energy = declining value.
5. Give yourself every chance to be rewarded
You’ve put in decades of effort. Don’t lose it in the final stretch.
