Want your business to last? Make sure the next generation is ready to take over.

Youve succeeded in building a vibrant and thriving business, but have you considered how you would like it to run once youve transitioned control to the next generation?

Clients sometimes spend so much time and energy building their successful family business, they overlook planning for the business future. Just as detailed estate planning is vital for your family, proper transition planning is critical for your business.

But where to start?

Developing a mission statement for the business is your first step. This statement can cover the values of your business as well as the familys, providing a vision of what will be expected of the next generation of company leadership. Drafting a mission statement will enhance communication throughout the family and keep everyone on the same page a sort of Family Constitution.

Of course, this process requires you to identify the values you hold most dear. Many clients, for example, want their children, the future leaders of the family business, to be well-educated and philanthropically-minded members of the community. Many clients are determined to help their children become successful, but are concerned about fostering an air of entitlement. The mission statement, or Family Constitution, can go a long way to allay these fears.

A comprehensive mission statement should incorporate the objectives and expectations of every family member. In families with multiple children, business owners need to nurture a family dynamic that makes sense. Determine if your children want to actively participate in the family business or pursue outside opportunities. Perhaps you want your children to possess their own real-world experience before coming into the business. Or, perhaps you wish to first groom one or more of them to be your successor.

Detailed communication with the family is vital before any planning takes place. Then the focus should turn to education.

Family businesses need to put a premium on education for the next generation. That doesnt necessarily mean formal education, such as a college or business school though some families make this a requirement. It can simply mean close familiarity with the family business, ensuring that children will know the intricacies of the company, its products, its clients and its place in the community.

Given a successful business plan, an introduction to the values and mission of the business, and a strategy for maintaining the family dynamic, the next generations of leaders should be well-equipped to take the reins of the family business. The final question, therefore, is when to let go. This is where a specific, forward-looking governance plan comes in.

The adult children, even with education, are likely used to if not expecting their parents to continue making decisions about the company. The actual transition can be tricky. So, too, for the parents, who are likewise used to being in charge and may be reluctant to relinquish control. But a transitional approach will enhance the governance of the business and assuage many concerns, while representing the interests of all owners.

An additional way to develop the next generation in the area of governance is to establish structures such as family councils or advisory boards. These can help formalize decision processes and give adult children the next generation a framework in which they can replicate the types of decisions their parents made when growing the business. Encouraging risk-taking, while emphasizing the correlation to return, is an important lesson in growing the next generation of owners.

Passing along control in a family business can be fraught with all the challenges that families and businesses face separately. But with careful thought and planning, the torch can be passed and carried by many successive generations.

Mike Harman is a banker with the Seattle, Washington office of the J.P. Morgan Private Bank. J.P. Morgan Private Bank is a marketing name for private banking business conducted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its subsidiaries worldwide.