Businesses Turning to Succession Planning: Increased Interest in Securing Enterprise Futures
In the face of a growing need for business succession, the Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHK) in Germany are proactively addressing the issue by providing structured information, advisory, and support services to both entrepreneurs seeking successors and potential new entrepreneurs.
A key initiative is the role of the RKW Competence Center, which has launched several model projects to facilitate matchmaking and succession solutions among medium-sized companies. The IHKs also emphasise the importance of early and professional preparation, particularly in covering fiscal and legal aspects of succession such as tax optimization. They recommend specialist tax advisors with qualifications in business succession.
Despite a recent cyberattack that disrupted access to certain online IHK resources, the IHK's traditional and ongoing approach remains focused on comprehensive advisory roles supplemented by linkage to other support mechanisms like government-backed funding and checklist tools offered by entities such as the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).
The current strategies and initiatives by German IHKs include providing extensive advisory and matchmaking services to connect successors with businesses, supporting education and professional consultation, especially related to tax and legal aspects, collaborating with institutions like the RKW Competence Center to implement model projects that ease succession, offering information and resources to future entrepreneurs to encourage takeover interest, and linking entrepreneurs to financial support programs (e.g., from KfW).
According to the DIHK Report on Business Succession 2025, there has been an increase in businesses considering closure, with nearly 10,000 succession consultations nationwide, a 16% increase from the previous year. The report also reveals that around 70% of entrepreneurs do not have an "emergency kit," which can put the survival of the business at risk in case of illness or death.
To address this, the IHK recommends early planning for succession, ideally three to ten years before the handover, to create reliability and security for both the handover and potential takeover parties. The IHK Emergency Handbook, available at www.ihk.de/notfall-handbuch, offers structured checklists, templates, and guidance on documenting all important documents and powers of attorney to ensure business continuity in case of an emergency.
Many interested parties seek succession as an attractive career option or as an alternative to uncertain employment. Initiatives like the "Business Women IHK" network encourage women to take over existing businesses, with only around 25% of interested parties being women currently. However, a growing societal aversion to entrepreneurship is problematic, with 12% of cases citing the decline in societal recognition of entrepreneurial activity as a factor in the decision to close.
The number of interested parties in a business takeover has increased by 45% to over 4,000 in 2024. Persistent economic weakness, rising energy and material costs, and high regulatory burdens are leading many entrepreneurs to consider exiting. The gap between supply and demand for successors is at an all-time high, with 92% of businesses considering closure due to the inability to find a successor.
The IHK organisation demands less bureaucracy, better tax frameworks, more economic education in schools, and lower energy costs to make entrepreneurship profitable and appealing again. A lack of potential successors from the founding-active age groups between 18 and 40 years is another challenge, with 40% of IHKs seeing the increasing burden of complex regulations and bureaucracy as the main reason for considering closing the business.
These efforts address the structural issues caused by demographic trends and declining entrepreneurial interest, crucial for securing the sustainability of the Mittelstand (medium-sized businesses) in Germany. Many are hoping that these initiatives will help to encourage a new generation of entrepreneurs and secure the future of these vital businesses.
[1] For more detailed information on the IHK's initiatives and resources, visit www.dihk.de/report for the full DIHK Report on Business Succession 2025.
Economic and social policy must address the issue of business succession in Germany, considering the important role of entrepreneurship in small-business growth. The chambers of industry and commerce (IHK) are proactively working on this, providing advisory and support services specifically for entrepreneurs seeking successors, as well as potential new entrepreneurs. This includes facilitating matchmaking and succession solutions among medium-sized companies, encouraging education and professional consultation, and linking entrepreneurs to financial support programs like those offered by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).
