Lost in Transition If you don't take steps to ensure your company's future now, you may not have the chance later. Here's how to plan for a smooth business transition.

Online exclusive: Have more questions about transition planning? Read The Monitor Group's answers to the most common business transition questions.

It still smarts when Terri Getman recalls the financial disaster that befell her family because her father didn't plan ahead. He owned a minority stake in a closely held Georgia paper-making machinery manufacturer, but died suddenly six months after the business was launched.

With no written plan outlining his ownership rights, the family was cut out by the other partners. These owners later sold the business to a German firm for a handsome profit, pocketing the funds themselves. "We did 11 years of litigation to get nothing," Getman ruefully recalls.