Succession planning critical in business

assisting fishermen to catch more fish at Susigi Dam.
Thereafter the lucrativeness of Susigi Dam decreased. There was no concerted plan that was put into place to ensure smooth takeover of the responsibilities by Mighty. In some instances people working at commercial farms are considered to be mere statistics than valuable assets.
Organisational memory and lack of continuity were two important assets that were lost when Matirabu left Susigi Dam. Beyond any shadow of doubt there was no succession planning effected at Susigi Dam hence fishing in that dam became less attractive.
In our African tradition, the men and male children would gather at a dare every night. Their meals and refreshments were served there. This was a forum for sharing experiences as well as exchanging ideas with youngsters. This served as the informal mentoring sessions between elders and youngsters.
In tandem with this tradition, the first son was the customary successor of his father’s homestead in the event of his death. Succession planning starts on the day the first son is conceived. The son is taken through many ropes during his life before he eventually takes over.
During the distribution of his late father’s estate he would be given tsvimbo dzababa (knobkerries symbolising the head of the family). Exceptional cases where this is waivered is when the first born son is mentally unstable or has not fully integrated with the family (if borne out of wedlock) or extremely irresponsible or uncouth.
However, merely inheriting tsvimbo did not guarantee family continuity. Before a man passed on he had a responsibility of coaching and modelling a would-be successor the intricacies of running and uniting the family together. This was done during the dare and on a one-on-one basis. This was done to enable him to familiarise with his family and the family’s environment. This interaction enabled the son to consult as well and this enabled natural impartation of certain traits from the father or family leader to the son. To some extent planned succession minimised family feuds in the event of the death of the family leader.
Unfortunately though the tradition is clear on succession plan, the same method has not been effectively transferred to indigenous businesses. Most indigenous businessmen do not plan for their forthcoming deaths. These entrepreneurs choose to keep trade secrets in their chests. The trade secrets are not shared with their wives or children. The only involvement of wives and children to the business is strictly at consumption point.
One of the common debates that used to do the rounds when we were growing up was that an African dies with his wealth. With the exception of the Tawengwas  and a few other families in Zimbabwe, this theory was reinforced in many wealthy African families where the death of an entrepreneur is followed by the demise of the business within a few years.
The issue of succession planning is the least favourable of all debates in private and public companies. It makes most of the CEOs and senior managers uncomfortable but it is unavoidable. Planning for someone to take over their jobs in future is a thorn in the flesh of most senior managers. Successors are always viewed as threats to the incumbent. The general view shared is that if a successor- to-be proves to be more competent, the incumbent manager might be replaced by the successor to be. So many CEOs fear to groom successors due to personal insecurity.
On the other hand, some CEOs are not bothered to organise succession planning because they do not view themselves as  mortals. They do not realise that they have no control over the day they will die.
Many entrepreneurs in particular and people in general do not want to plan for what happens to their estates should they die.
In most African business ventures, when the entrepreneur dies, he also dies with the trade secrets. Most entrepreneurs never devote time to take their children nor wives through the ropes of their particular businesses. They seem to excel in teaching their children to be consumers. The spirit of consumerism in their children manifests itself in excessive consumption of resources (including the capital of the business) after the death of the entrepreneurs. These “trained consumers” interpret gross profit as net profit ready for consumption with no allowance provided for other neither expenses nor general reserve.
In a few months after the death of the entrepreneurs, the business will be overtrading. Thereafter the business might be liquidated or put under judicial management for failing to honour short- and long-term obligations.
The reason for this consistent failure among indigenous successors can be traced to the Zimbabwean entrepreneurs teaching their children to be serious consumers instead of being serious market players.