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Small Business Succession Planning Program

The Succession Planning Program offers resources for small business owners thinking about succession planning. Succession planning is getting your business ready to be sold or transferred to new management. This could be a sale or transfer to your family, an employee or a group of employees, or someone else. Planning ahead can help you: 

• Understand how much your business is worth, and how to prove it.
• Find ways to make your business run smoother.
• Identify and develop leaders.

In spring 2024, we launched a pilot program. The first year of the program included a series of workshops as well as a facilitated conversation with local leaders who have experience with succession planning. The purpose of the pilot program is to:

• Better understand the needs in the community.
• Provide a basic understanding of succession planning to small business owners. 
• Help small business owners begin to think about their own plans.
• Learn about available resources. 
• Connect small business owners interested in succession planning.

Recorded Workshops & Events

• Shared Success: How to Finance a Worker Co-op Buyout with Cooperative Fund of the Northeast (June 2025)
• Employee Ownership as a Powerful Succession Strategy Workshop with the ICA Group (May 2025) 
• Building a Legacy Beyond Ownership (Succession Planning Action Steps) with Revby LLC (April 2025)
• Massachusetts Center for Employee Ownership Regional Symposium (February 2025)
• Succession Planning Workshop Series: What is Your Business Worth? with Roads Consulting Group (May 2024)
• Succession Planning Workshop Series: How to Transfer Your Business with Roads Consulting Group (May 2024)

Available Resources

• Succession Planning and Employee Ownership Workbook - The ICA Group (June 2025)
• Building a Legacy Beyond Ownership Workshop Slides (April 2025)
• Succession Planning Toolkit - Revby LLC (April 2025)

Upcoming Events

Succession Planning Conversations: Local Stories About Selling Your Business

Join us for a coffee talk about small business succession planning. Hear stories from local businesses about their experience selling or buying their business. This event is best for small business owners and organizations that support small businesses. It is open to all and not limited to Cambridge.
 
This event is moderated by John Allen of Allen Business Advisors and sponsored by the Cambridge Community Development Department.
 
Date: March 13, 2026
Time: 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Location: Sullivan Chamber, Cambridge City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge.
Registration is required. Register here

For more information

For more information on the Succession Planning Program please contact Sarah Jane Huber at shuber@cambridgema.gov or 617/349-4624.