Director of Consulting Hank Harris explains in this latest edition of Consulting Conversations.If you have a growing business, you should expect that's going to happen. The classic example is somebody who starts a small business; they have a bookkeeper. Ten to 15 years later, they have a very successful large mid-sized business, and that party can no longer keep up. The business now needs a controller, or maybe somebody's even got CFO qualifications.There are other functions. It's not just accounting, but there are plenty of other functions where that's going to happen. I just use that as an example.Q: Can you demote somebody and bring somebody in over them and keep them happy and engaged?I would say 90% of the time the answer is 'no.' It's challenging to do, and can it be done. But it's rare and hard to do.We'd love to hear from any private business hunt owner in North Carolina that thinks we could be of some help to them in understanding how their business gets better or where it ...

Director of Consulting Hank Harris answers the question in the latest installment of Consulting Conversations. Watch it now!We want to think that everybody that gets picked as a successor will be the right answer and successful in what they do, but there are times when it doesn't work out that way. The hope would be that you have enough bench strength to pick another successor in your organization. If you don't, the alternative is to go to the outside. I think for most privately held businesses, that can be challenging.I think for most privately held businesses, that can be challenging. It's not impossible. I think some people think it's impossible, but you know there are many, many cases where an outsider comes in and does just fine. Sometimes, privately held business owners don't tend to like that, and I do think it's better if they can grow their own. But sometimes that has to be done. Ultimately, you have to have a successor. If there is no successor, you can't find one, unfortu...