The handover remains a taboo

Plus24 Il Sole24 Ore | 12 December 2020

In Italy the issue of generational change is still a taboo only 17% have solved it.

On average, women, the over 75, those who live in the north, the most educated and the wealthiest are more sensitive.

The generational change is mainly faced with the will (holograph or public), lack of knowledge and use of family agreements, trusts and fiduciaries.

Notary and accountant are the main contacts in the growing role of the CF / PB.

The reasons why the generational transition issue is not addressed are the lack of a contact person, the removal of the problem and the lack of knowledge.

Italian entrepreneurs are more sensitive but only 55% of them have solved the issue.

For entrepreneurs, the role of the accountant is central both in absolute terms and in tandem with the CF with whom he shares the primacy of satisfaction.

The pandemic has contributed to making the issue of generational change, succession and above all that of business continuity more current.

In fact, compared to before the pandemic, the sense of vulnerability has increased by 17% among Italians, i.e. the fear of not being able to preserve and transfer to their heirs the heritage built up over years of work. Among entrepreneurs, the figure is even 29%. This data is explained both by the average age of entrepreneurs in Italy (68 years), and by the fact that most of the entrepreneurial fabric is made up of family businesses where the business activity revolves around the figure of the entrepreneur often hardly replaceable.

In addition, many entrepreneurs have had to suffer an interruption of activities and a consequent decline in the turnover of their company.

In reality, the pandemic has done nothing but shed more light on an issue that has always characterized Italian entrepreneurship, where only 30% of family businesses survive their founder, and just 13% reach the third generation.

The increased sensitivity on the issue of business continuity – a crucial issue for Italian companies and their related industries – is therefore an opportunity not to be missed before everything gets back to normal and entrepreneurs feel immortal again like theirs. companies.

The issue is therefore also central to the social value that the company has in Italy in terms of induced activities and employment effects.

Nicola Ronchetti