For successors in family businesses
Your path in the family business
Succession in a family business is more than a career decision. It’s about responsibility, expectations, and the question of which role truly fits you.
Whether you want to join the company, take on responsibility as a shareholder, or first go your own way, INTES helps you gain clarity, develop your skills, and actively shape the future of your family business.
Succession takes many paths
Responsibility for a family business can look very different from one person to the next. Perhaps you want to take over operational leadership one day. Perhaps you see your role more as a shareholder, on the advisory board, or within the business family. Or perhaps you’re still unsure whether and how the family business should become part of your career.
What matters is not living up to a predefined image of succession. What matters is finding a role that fits you, your family, and the company.
What do you need for your next step?
Do I want to take on responsibility in the family business — and if so, in which role? Together we clarify your goals, skills, and expectations, and develop a path that fits you, your family, and the company.
Whether management, advisory board, or shareholder role: every form of responsibility calls for knowledge and competence. In our seminars and workshops, you prepare specifically for your future role.
Other NextGens know many of your questions from their own experience. In the INTES NextGen Community, you’ll find a protected space for open exchange, fresh perspectives, and lasting connections.
How do other NextGens shape their path? In portraits, interviews, studies, and expert articles, you gain honest insights and inspiration for your own succession.
Where do you stand right now?
Every path into succession is different. Perhaps you’re thinking about your role for the first time, are already making concrete preparations to join, or already carry responsibility in the family business. What matters is asking the right questions at your current point and shaping the next steps deliberately.
You’re wondering whether joining the family business is right for you at all, and which role might suit you.
Your next step:
Clarify your own goals, expectations, and options.
A good fit for you:
Succession consulting · NextGen portraits · personal sparring
You want to take on responsibility, but the timing, role, and path into the company aren’t fully settled yet.
Your next step:
Plan your entry, development stages, and the skills you’ll need.
A good fit for you:
Succession consulting · seminars and workshops · NextGen Community
You’ve taken on initial responsibilities or a leadership role and want to find your own place, build confidence, and drive change.
Your next step:
Solidify your role, expand your responsibility, and actively shape the transition.
A good fit for you:
Professional development · personal sparring · NextGen Club
You carry responsibility for the family business without being active in day-to-day operations yourself.
Your next step:
Fill your shareholder role professionally and make well-founded decisions.
A good fit for you:
Shareholder qualification · advisory board know-how · exchange with other owners
Roles, responsibilities, or the timeline aren’t sufficiently clarified yet. Different expectations across the generations may be coming into play.
Your next step:
Develop a viable handover plan and create clear structures for the family and the company.
A good fit for you:
Succession consulting · ownership strategy · governance consulting
Every succession journey is different. Some phases overlap, others repeat. What matters is asking the right questions at the right time.
Succession consulting for NextGens
Clarity for your role and the transition
Succession comes down to two things: ability and willingness. That’s why good succession consulting doesn’t start with a ready-made model, but with the right questions.
Do you want to join the family business operationally? Do you see your role more as a shareholder, on the advisory board, or in the family office? Which responsibility matches your abilities, your goals, and your life plans? And how can the transition be designed so that the family and the company benefit in the long term as well?
Together we develop an individual plan for your path into succession. In doing so, we look not only at your personal development, but also at the structures within the family and the company.
Typical questions in succession consulting
- Which role suits me?
- Which experiences and skills do I still need?
- When is the right time to join?
- How can responsibility and decision-making authority be handed over step by step?
- How long should the handover phase last?
- How are siblings and non-operational shareholders involved?
- Which governance structures will the family business need going forward?
The result is not an off-the-shelf succession plan, but a path that fits you, your family, and your company.
Professional development for NextGens
Take on responsibility well prepared
A responsible role in the family business doesn’t come from heritage alone. It calls for expert knowledge, entrepreneurial understanding, and the confidence to make good decisions even in difficult situations.
Our seminars and workshops help you prepare specifically for your future role — regardless of whether you want to join the company operationally, take on responsibility as a shareholder, or serve on an advisory board.
Topics include, among others
- the particular dynamics of family businesses and business families
- finding your own role and your personal development
- leadership, communication, and collaboration
- strategy, finance, and corporate management
- shareholder competence and governance
- dealing with conflict and differing expectations
- collaboration between the generations
You learn not only from experienced speakers, but also from other NextGens who face similar decisions or have already taken on responsibility. This way, you combine sound knowledge with practical experience and fresh perspectives.
Exchange and network
Learn from other NextGens
Many questions around succession are easier to discuss with people who face similar decisions. How do you successfully join the family business? How do I handle expectations? How do I carve out a role of my own? And how can I take on responsibility without losing sight of myself?
In the INTES NextGen Community, you meet successors from other family businesses — from those just getting their bearings to those who have already taken on a leadership or shareholder role. The exchange takes place in a protected setting and creates room for open conversations, honest experiences, and fresh perspectives.
This includes, among others
- the INTES NextGen Club
- exclusive networking events
- exchange with experienced NextGens and NowGens
- shared learning and reflection formats
- the annual NextGen Retreat
The result is a network that not only helps you professionally, but also supports you personally.
Knowledge and inspiration
Experiences that bring your own path into focus
Succession unfolds differently in every family business. That makes it all the more valuable to learn how other NextGens shaped their entry, took on responsibility, and made difficult decisions.
In our NextGen portraits, interviews, studies, and expert articles, you gain honest insights into a wide range of succession journeys. They cover successes and doubts, leadership and collaboration, new roles, family expectations, and the question of how tradition and change can be brought together.
You’ll discover, among other things
- how other NextGens found their role
- what experience they gathered before joining
- how handovers within the family were handled
- which conflicts and challenges arose
- how new leadership ideas took root in the company
- why succession doesn’t always have to mean operational management
This gives you guidance, fresh perspectives, and inspiration for your own path in the family business.
Not sure where you stand?
Together we’ll find out which next step fits your situation.
Succession has many faces
There’s no single right way into the family business. Some NextGens join early, others first gather experience elsewhere. Some take over the management, others contribute as shareholders, on the advisory board, or in the family office.
In our NextGen portraits, successors speak openly about the decisions, doubts, conflicts, and experiences that shaped their path.
Guidance for your next step
NextGen Compact Workshop
Want to find out which role in the family business suits you and what your path into succession could look like?
In the NextGen Compact Workshop, you dive deep into your own goals, expectations, and options. Together with other NextGens, you develop a clearer picture of the responsibility you want to take on and the next steps that make sense for you.
The workshop offers you
- space for personal orientation
- inspiration on roles, responsibility, and succession
- exchange with other NextGens
- concrete starting points for your onward path
Let’s talk about your next step
Not sure yet which offering fits your situation? Nathalie Stadelmann helps you find the right entry point and clarify your next steps.
