Abstract:
This study examined the Factors Contributing to Succession Planning and Performance of Small Businesses: Evidence from the Builsa North Municipality, Ghana. Specifically, the study evaluates the factors influencing succession planning in family businesses within the Builsa North Municipality, assesses the barriers to succession planning in family businesses and examines the effect of succession planning on the performance of family businesses within the Municipality. To achieve the purpose of the research enumerated above, the researcher utilized the quantitative methodology and a descriptive research design to address the study objectives. The collected data was processed using IBM SPSS Statistics software and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential analytical tools. The findings revealed that succession planning, capital structure, and firm age had a positive impact on performance, while firm size and family firm governance had a negative impact. Succession planning was found to be a significant factor in the smooth running of family-owned businesses, as it reduced conflicts and ensured future survival and performance. With the ever-increasing desire to have more sustainable family businesses, succession planning within the Builsa North Municipality must be given priority. The heads of businesses who intend to impose a succession plan should ensure that they carry out more research on the impact and implications of succession planning. This will go a long way in helping them to know the needs of the successor to help them be in a suitable and sustainable position.
