You have decided to make proper plans for leaving your business, but you are still asking yourself the big question.

Whom do you transfer it to?

If you feel someone in your family (son, daughter, nephew or niece) is ready to take over from you, you already have the answer. You will prepare for your departure with that person.

But if you do not have a family successor, or if the potential family successor is not interested, then your question is still unanswered.

Do you sell it to one of your executives? If your business is big enough to have an executive team, though, are you sure one of them has the fortitude and desire to take over?

If you are your business's only leader, do you sell it to a stranger in your region and hope for the best? You will need to ask yourself, "Will that person want to keep the business and make it prosper, or will he move it elsewhere, or close it down for the sole purpose of keeping your customer base?"

Finding the right buyer is not an easy task. That is why we are suggesting a tried and true solution that will enhance your business's prospects for continued prosperity after your departure: a co-operative solution.

There are, in fact, many forms of co-operative alternatives for transferring a business.

Co-operative options

If you operate a small business, it could be a consumer co-operative or a multi- stakeholder co-operative made up of your customers only or with members of your community who have a stake in your business's survival.

If your business has more than three employees, it could be, for example, a worker co-operative made up of your employees.

If your business represents an important market opportunity for your suppliers, they may be interested in turning it into a producer co-operative.

Whatever the type of co-operative that seems most appropriate for taking over your business, it is important to remember that they all have common features conferred under the relevant co-operative legislation in your province, feature that make them sound, profitable businesses with survival rates that are greater than those of private companies:

• in most provinces their democratic governance structure is set out in legislation; lines of authority, and each person's roles and responsibilities are clearly defined;
• their management logic is different but just as effective as, if not more effective than, that of a private company because the owner members have every interest in their co-operative being profitable and prosperous:
• members of a consumer co-operative or a multi-stakeholder co-operative need the business to procure the goods and services they want to accesslocally at good value prices;
• members of a worker co-operative have an interest in their co-operative prospering because their wages and working conditions depend on it;
• members of a producer co-operative need their co-operative because it is the key market for their products.

For all of the above reasons, it is our belief that the co-operative alternative is the most attractive alternative for transferring a business upon the departure of its owner:

• by its very nature, it has a promising future;
• it is sure to retain local control over the future of a business;
• it provides the owner with the perspective of seeing his life's work and his memory perpetuated within his community.