Spokane is in the early stages of one of the most significant economic shifts our region has seen in a generation. Tens of thousands of baby boomer business owners across the country are approaching retirement, and many have not yet reckoned with what that means for the businesses they spent decades building. Here in Spokane, that wave is already arriving.

I know this firsthand because we work with business owners and I was on the buying side of one of those transitions.

In 2024, my colleague Amy Drury and I acquired Stewardship Concepts Financial Services from its founder, Edwin Hill, known to most as Wyn, who had built the firm over more than 25 years. Since then, we have grown the firm from roughly $75 million to $190 million in assets under management. But this was a new process for all of us, and there are things we would have done differently.

That is part of what makes succession so difficult: for most owners, it is something they go through only once. What surprises me most is how few sellers plan what comes after the sale, starting with the most basic question: what does retirement actually look like without the business?

The business is often the retirement plan

For many business owners, the company they built is not just a source of income. It is usually their largest asset and the centerpiece of their retirement plan. The assumption is simple: build it, sell it, retire on the proceeds.

The problem is that this plan is more fragile than it appears. Business valuations fluctuate. Finding the right buyer takes longer than expected. The tax implications of a sale can be substantial and are difficult to manage without years of advance planning. And the emotional reality of letting go is harder than most owners anticipate.

The owners who navigate this well are almost always the ones who started planning five to 10 years before they were ready to leave, not five to 10 months.

Succession is about more than finding a buyer

One of the things Wyn did well was that he genuinely cared about what happened after the sale. He was not looking for someone to write a check. He was looking for people who would serve his clients well and carry forward the values he had built the firm around.

That is harder to find than a fair price.

In professional service businesses, financial advisory, law, accounting, medicine, and insurance, the real asset is not equipment or inventory. It is relationships. Client trust, staff loyalty, and community reputation are what give the business its value. Those things do not automatically transfer with ownership. They have to be cultivated and earned over time.

If you have not yet thought about how trust will practically transfer from you to the next owner, that belongs on your list.

What younger buyers need to understand

I was 30 when we completed the acquisition. Buying an established local business was one of the best decisions I have made, and I think more younger professionals in Spokane should consider it seriously.

There is real value in buying something with existing clients, staff, systems, and reputation. You are not starting from zero. You are building on something that already works.

But it requires patience. The clients did not choose you. They chose the person who built the business. You earn their trust through consistency and follow through over time, not through an announcement that new ownership has arrived.

What this means for Spokane

Over the next decade, a significant number of Spokane's locally-owned businesses will change hands. Some will be sold to employees, some to outside buyers, some acquired by larger firms. And some will simply close because the owner never found a path forward.

The businesses that transition well will be the ones where the owner started early and gave the process the time it deserves. The ones that struggle will be where the owner waited until they were burned out and rushed something that does not reward rushing.

Start now. Talk to your CPA about the tax implications of a future sale. Talk to a financial adviser about how the proceeds fit into your retirement income plan. Think about who you would want to carry what you have built.

The wave is coming. The owners who prepare will have more choices and a better outcome than those who do not.

Noah Schwab, CFP, is a financial adviser and owner at Stewardship Concepts Financial Services in Spokane. The firm provides fee-only fiduciary retirement planning and investment management for retirees and near-retirees. He can be reached at [email protected].