November 2025 Economic Development Update
Retaining the incredible businesses we have here in Sunrise Corner is important to the quality of life of residents. Equally important is ensuring retiring business owners are able to claim the hard-earned monetary value of their business to help fund their retirement. How can both those scenarios take place in our region? That’s where Sunrise Corner can help.
Sunrise Corner Economic Development is launching an initiative for local business owners who are considering retiring to assist them in developing a proactive succession plan. This will allow them to exit their business profitably while the business continues to operate under new ownership for the benefit of everyone involved – employees, customers, suppliers and the community.
Here are some of the questions business owners are asking about succession planning:
- How do I find a suitable successor or buyer? It could be family members, employees, or an external buyer.
- How do I know how much my business is worth? It’s more than assets minus liabilities.
- How do I work through the legal and financial issues of selling my business? Talking to professionals can make a world of difference to your peace of mind and to your bottom line.
- How do I sell my business when it’s only ever been me interacting with customers? Starting succession planning well before you’d like to retire can provide options.
- How do I sell my business when it’s located on my home property? Early succession planning can create a path to moving the business offsite.
- Where do I start in developing a succession plan? We’re here to help.
As a starting point, Sunrise Corner is developing a survey to understand where local business owners are in the process and what resources they need to achieve a successful transition to retirement. In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing the survey via email, on our Economic Development Facebook page and on our website.
No matter where owners are in the business lifecycle, we’d love to hear from you. And when you complete the survey, we’ll enter your name in a random draw to win one of three $50 gift cards to a local Sunrise Corner business of your choice. Survey will remain open until December 5, 2025. Access the Survey
Having a solid succession plan ensures business owners can realize the value of the business they’ve built when they want to move on to the next phase of their life – or when circumstances change and they have to exit the business. If you’d like to discuss your small business succession plan right away, I’m available to chat about options.
Monique Chenier
monique@sunrisecornermb.ca