iscoverSuccession planning is a top concern across generations in family businesses, but concrete strategies are lacking, a survey by Grant Thornton has found.
Succession planning a top concern for businesses, but most lack concrete plans
18 September 2025
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7 minute read
Grant Thornton’s 2025 Family Business Report revealed that succession planning was a top concern across both ‘rising’ and ‘incumbent’ generations, but many businesses fell into the pitfall of viewing succession planning as inextricably linked to retirement.
“The report revealed interesting insights, with succession planning continuing to be a shared challenge across generations,” Kirsten Taylor-Martin, partner and national head of family business consulting at Grant Thornton, said.
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“Both generations share this challenge because succession planning is complex and often uncomfortable to talk about, requires strategic foresight, emotional readiness, and it’s fair to say, succession is still thought of alongside retirement.”
Succession planning was the top concern for the rising generation, with 41 per cent listing it as a top challenge. It was the third largest concern for the incumbent generation (22 per cent), after cash flow issues (28 per cent) and attracting and retaining staff (37 per cent).
Other top concerns for the rising generation included economic uncertainty (38 per cent), cash flow issues (26 per cent) and challenging family relationships (21 per cent).
Grant Thornton noted that the rising generation appeared to be focused on internal family dynamics, while the incumbent generation was more concerned with business operations and external risks.
While succession planning was a high-level concern for both generations, Grant Thornton found that only 19 per cent of family businesses in Australia had a documented succession plan put into place.
It warned that a widely-held perception that succession planning was synonymous with retirement could hamper businesses’ abilities to execute a smooth handover process.
“Both incumbent and rising generations agree succession planning is critical to effectively transition leadership within family businesses, but when it’s thought about alongside retirement, often there’s not enough time to plan a smooth handover,” the report said.
The survey also found that the age profile of the rising generation was changing, with over 30 per cent now aged between 44 and 64.
“It shows we have a cohort of experienced leaders in waiting – so succession planning is more critical than ever,” Taylor-Martin said.
“If you’re only thinking about succession planning alongside retirement, you may not be giving yourself enough time and space to plan well to ensure your family business is growing for generations to come. Succession planning is not synonymous with retirement – it should be a strategic priority as it’s about being ready for change, whenever that may come.”
The report noted that the older age profile of the rising generation left them with a wealth of experience and knowledge to step up, and encouraged businesses to take concrete actions towards succession planning strategies.
“As Australia prepares for an unprecedented $3.5 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer, getting succession right through shared values, collaboration and innovation is more critical than ever because the stakes have never been higher,” it read.
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