Most exit planning starts with the assumption that the owner gets to choose the moment. You decide when you're ready to retire, spend a few years getting the business prepared, find the right buyer or successor, then gradually step back on a timetable that works for you. It is a logical way to think about succession, but it isn't always how business ownership works. Recent Australian research found that around 40% of small business owners surveyed had previously experienced a sudden,...

What happens when the next generation does not want the life that came with the business? Many family-business succession plans begin with the owner deciding who should eventually take over. Far fewer begin by asking whether that person genuinely wants to. The assumption can sit quietly inside a family for years. A son has worked in the business since leaving school, so everyone assumes he will eventually run it. A daughter has the strongest commercial skills, so the parents assume she will...

The tax news for business owners just got better. On 26 June 2026, the government's tax reform package received Royal Assent — it's now law, not a proposal sitting in a discussion paper. Buried in it is a change that matters directly to you: the 50% active asset CGT concession — one of four small business concessions that can reduce or eliminate tax when you sell — now applies to businesses turning over up to $10 million, up from $2 million. From FY2027–28, that puts almost every business in...