Business Succession: A Reflection of Our Entrepreneurial Weaknesses – an article by Sébastien Duval for GPO Magazine

It is one of the major economic challenges of the next decade. Yet it also exposes a deeper weakness: our difficulty in building businesses that can outlast their founders. As large numbers of business owners from the baby-boomer generation approach retirement, around 500,000 French businesses are expected to change hands over the next ten years. Yet only 37,000 business transfers took place in 2024.

This is a worrying situation. When a business closes because no successor can be found, it is not simply a set of accounts that comes to an end. It means missed opportunities for growth, the loss of valuable skills and expertise, and the lasting weakening of local economic ecosystems. Suppliers, subcontractors, partners, industrial sectors and even local shops: an entire economic fabric often depends on the survival of these businesses.

The stakes are high: safeguarding three million jobs, protecting our regions, preserving valuable expertise and, in certain strategic sectors, securing part of our industrial and technological capabilities – and, by extension, our economic sovereignty.

The disappearance of businesses that could have continued to create value, simply because their future had not been adequately planned for, is often viewed as a financial or legal issue. In reality, it reveals something far more fundamental: our attitude towards entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, business succession is still too often approached primarily as a matter of family inheritance, when it should instead be seen as a new chapter in the entrepreneurial journey.

Moving Beyond the Founder-Led Model to Build Businesses That Last

France knows how to create businesses. What it still struggles with, however, is supporting their transformation: helping them grow, develop the right structures and thrive over the long term. Our entrepreneurial culture continues to place great emphasis on the founder – the person who drives the vision, takes the risks and embodies the business. Yet it provides less support for the essential transition from individual entrepreneur to leader of a collective organisation. A business can only be successfully passed on if it has been designed, from the outset, to operate without depending on a single individual.

This is not merely a matter of corporate governance. It becomes a major obstacle when the time comes to sell the business. Conversely, a well-structured company, with empowered teams, clear processes and the ability to operate independently of its founder, is far more attractive to a potential buyer. In practical terms, the difference in valuation can be substantial, depending on how well the business has been prepared for its transfer.

Behind this challenge lies another distinctly French weakness: the reluctance to seek support and surround oneself with the right people. Many entrepreneurs continue to shoulder the responsibility of running their businesses alone for years. They are sometimes hesitant to seek advice, bring in external investors, delegate responsibilities or acknowledge that they cannot control everything. This entrepreneurial isolation is often perceived as a sign of strength, when in reality it becomes a vulnerability over time. Businesses that achieve lasting success are those that know how to bring together diverse skills, foster trust, make the most of complementary strengths and build a collective capable of thriving beyond its leader.

This difficulty in moving from a culture that celebrates the heroic business leader to one that values the leader as a builder of lasting organisations also partly explains why France struggles to develop more mid-sized companies capable of scaling up. France has approximately 8,000 entreprises de taille intermédiaire (ETIs) – mid-sized companies – around half as many as Germany. This gap represents a considerable loss of potential in terms of skilled employment, investment, innovation and economic influence.

Read the full article on the GPO Magazine website (available in French only)