My kids don't want the business. What are my options?

You are not alone in this

Most owners never planned for this moment. A 2025 NAB survey of business owners found fewer than four in ten expect family to take over, and almost half expect retirement to end in a closure, a wind-up or a sale outside the family.

It can still hurt. You may have built the business partly for them. It is worth saying out loud that a child who chooses their own path hasn't rejected you or the business. Many simply have their own lives, somewhere else.

Start with an honest conversation

Before you decide anything, ask each of your children directly. Not "do you want it?", but what part, if any, they want. Some want to run it but not own it. Some want to own a share but not run it. Some want nothing to do with it and feel guilty saying so. A clear answer, even a no, is a gift. It lets you plan.

If a child is unsure, give them a date to decide by. Waiting years for an answer is how good businesses run out of time.

Your real options

1. A manager steps up. Someone already in the business takes over the running of it, while you keep ownership for a time or sell later. This works when there is a strong second in charge. It doesn't, on its own, pay you out.
2. Your staff or managers buy it. This keeps it close to home. The hard part is money. Most employees can't fund a large purchase, so the owner often ends up lending them part of the price and being paid back over years. That is called vendor finance, and it means your retirement depends on the business doing well after you leave. See earn-outs and vendor finance explained.
3. You sell to a competitor or a bigger business. They may pay well. They may also merge your business into theirs, move it, or rename it. Ask them directly.
4. You sell to an investor. Private equity firms and individual buyers each work differently, and larger buyers are often working to a set timeframe, around five years. See who will buy my business when I retire.
5. You sell to a long-term owner. Some buyers, like us, buy to keep. The business carries on with the same people, name and customers, and nobody is planning the next sale.
6. You close it. Sometimes this is right. But it means the team goes, the customers go elsewhere, and the value you built over decades is reduced to whatever the equipment and stock sell for.

What happens if you wait

The hardest part of succession is that time runs one way. Health changes. Energy fades. A business that depends heavily on its owner is harder to hand over the longer that stays true. Nikita started PPR after seeing too many good businesses where owners stayed longer than they wanted to, or the business was simply wound down because there was no clear path forward. That is why we started PPR.

You don't need a polished plan to start. Most owners don't have one, and that's okay.

How we handle succession

If you sell to us, working out who leads after you is our job, and we take it seriously.

• We give real preference to someone from within the business. Even if they're not fully ready, if they show potential we put in the effort and resources to help them step up.
• We look for the person who can win the trust of your team and customers, not the strongest résumé.
• How your knowledge passes to them depends on your goals and the needs of the business. If your priority is a fast exit, we'll support you.
• By the end of due diligence (the checking stage before the sale is final) you have the transition plan in writing: who will lead, how they will be supported, and how the handover will unfold.

What it looked like at CMR

Peter Bourke opened CMR Recycling in Mackay in 2010 with a small shed, a weighbridge and one truck. At 74, he wanted to step back while the business was going well. Closing the gate was never an option. He wanted someone who would keep CMR as it is, with the same people. His son Ronnie grew up around the yard, and today Ronnie runs CMR as general manager, with two experienced managers beside him.

Read Peter's story→