Some things, no matter how much we want them to happen – are just not possible. Let’s face it, if I could get on Oprah everything would be different. The results I want to achieve – no matter what they are, would be within my grasp if only I could get on Oprah, or ESPN, or on the cover of the Wall Street Journal.

But while anything is possible planning my company’s future around one of those possibilities is a waste of time. In fact it is more than a waste of time – it is a waste of my future, because the odds are just too great. If there is one extraordinary benefit of small business coaches it is helping us come to grips with those things that are just not possible for us to achieve – so we can stop kidding ourselves, forget investing in ideas that will not come true, and focus of what is possible for us to achieve.

Business owners who do not consistently focus on what’s possible to achieve will fail every time. There are no special situations and you are not exempt from this reality. This article is not written for them – those unique individuals who think the laws of business success do not apply to them. If that is you – feel free to stop reading right here.

Everything beyond this point is for those who understand that they must do what the successful businesses they know about have done and are doing today in order to stay on target for long term success.

Successful small business coaches understand that unless a business owners knows where they and their organization are right now, have a clear picture of what’s important to them in the future, and know full well what’s possible for them to achieve – they won’t focus on the right things.

Business owners who do not focus on the right targets will get lost, become disoriented, and their efforts will be diffused. The resources they are applying to this wrong direction will be lost and eventually so will they.

For example business owners who are intent on realizing the very maximum return from their years of effort know that unless an eager buyer with ready cash can be found when they are ready to step down, their best hope for the greatest return if for the business to continue in the ownership and management of successors.

I read somewhere that the best time to plant an oak tree was twenty years ago, and that the next best time is today. That goes for the development of your company’s successor generation management – those who will protect your investment while they are paying it back to you over time.

To succeed beyond the current generation your business and in no small part your small business coaches must realize that your succession or ownership transition will not succeed unless your successors are up to the task. If your successors are not competent today – this would be a great day to start them on the learning process. If they will never be able to handle the responsibilities – this is also a great day to start considering “Plan B” – wishing things were different won’t help.

Small business coaches are not there to judge – they are there to hold your ideas, concerns, goals, and ambitions up to the light of reality so you can make the call. They are there to prompt you to test your assumptions – and if they do that well they are worth far more than you are paying them.

Here are four tests – four areas where your assumptions must be tested and where you will have to determine what’s possible for the business and its successors to achieve.

Competence. Successful management transition requires competent successors. Unless the next generation can effectively manage a growing business there is no option other than the sale or liquidation of the business. Consider with your small business coach, your lawyer, accountant and key managers to determine what the essential components of competence are in your business at this time and under these circumstances. You will know where you are, what’s possible and what steps to take next.

Organization. Even the best most competent managers can’t operate effectively in bad, conflict riddled, or inadequate organizations. While the “how-to” ways an organization can be organized are infinitely varied, there is one element that is essential to each of them. Successful organizations have a clarity of authority and responsibility.

Where on the scale does your organization score? Is your company filled with people whose only skill is following your instructions or are they becoming leaders – incrementally each day getting more and more competent and more and more confident? Small business coaches are the best possible sounding board when it comes to holding your organization up to the mirror of reality. All of your other advisors have probably had a hand in creating the situation that exists today. You must be sure the organization’s chains of authority and responsibility will work at least as well with you living in another state as they do with you looking over everyone’s shoulders.

Compensation. Everybody – every employees whether family member or not, should be properly compensated. No one would openly dispute this, but there can be a lot of disagreement and discussion around just what the meaning of “proper” is. Properly defined and administered compensation systems can help to minimize these time wasting and energy-draining discussions. Small business coaches hold a vital role in this process – not determining compensation but helping the business owner and successor managers agree on what’s fair thing to do. Many business owners work for less than their key executives – because they own the place. These same people often expect their successors to do the same because “someday this will all be yours” and yet there are no contracts or plans in place to back that up.

When it comes to money – people get mad. Everyone thinks they are worth more than they’re being paid. Other people think they should be grateful and hope for the best. And I have not even mentioned the spouses – who have some very real, and often very accurate opinions.

Small business coaches will shine a light into all the above areas, to name just a few, helping their business owning clients more clearly come to grips with what’s possible for them to achieve in their organization.

An excellent small business coach will also push their clients to take the actions required to achieve their objectives because they know and they make sure their clients know that there is only one direction it’s possible to coast!