NextSMEs – Promoting succession planning for family-led businesses
ERASMUS+
PROJECT ID: 2024-1-MT01-KA220-VET000255565
TIMELINE: 09/2024- 08/2026
The NextSMEs project aims to equip family-owned SMEs with tools for successful succession planning, addressing challenges like professionalism, financial stability, and innovation. By fostering awareness among stakeholders, we seek to ensure the longevity and prosperity of these businesses.
OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of the project are:
• Develop training modules and educational tools that are tailored to the needs of family-owned businesses on the significance of preserving enterprises while providing the right tools and knowledge to ensure the business’ survival.
• Support firms in formulating succession plans that emphasise skills and qualifications rather than personal considerations. The objective is to establish efficient strategies that can manage and mitigate conflicts within families.
• Promote financial strategies that preserve family control while assuring financial growth and stability.
• Address the challenges and complexity associated with disagreements in family businesses, particularly those pertinent to issues of control, leadership, and decision-making, while ensuring the business’s adaptability to change.
• Enhance the level of awareness and proactive engagement of local politicians in fostering an environment beneficial to the development of family SMEs supporting the public engagement in providing regulation and financial resources.
RESULTS
The expected results of the project are:
• Transnational report including a general background about family-run SMEs in each of the participating countries elaborated after a comprehensive SWOT analysis.
• A comprehensive training curriculum with micro-credentials comprising modules on various aspects crucial for the sustainability of family-led SMEs, including professionalism, succession planning, financial management, innovation, and governance.
• An online platform (OER) hosting the training modules, lectures, and educational digital contents, accessible to SME owners and aspiring family entrepreneurs. Local piloting activities ensures the testing and validation phase of the platform.
• A guide for VET providers to include the training curriculum in their teaching programs.
• A strategic plan for family SMEs engagement in succession planning and conflict resolution, in the form of a digital selfassessment tool.
PARTNERSHIP
