Within your business is a trove of information and important details. Who owns what. Where the important paperwork sits. Who to call when something breaks. For most owners, that knowledge is carried around day to day and rarely written down in one place.
That works fine until someone else needs to step in. A co-owner, a spouse, an adult child, or a trusted employee. If that day comes, the difference between a smooth handoff and a stressful scramble usually comes down to whether the basics were written down ahead of time.
More than half of small business owners are 55 or older, and only about half have any kind of plan for what happens to the business when they step away. If you’ve been meaning to get to it, you’re in good company. The good news is that the first useful version doesn’t take long, and Paige gives you a place to keep it.
Here’s how to use the three tools built for this. You can do them in any order, and you can start small and add as you go.
Map Out Who Owns What
Start with the ownership tool. You’ll name your business and record who owns it and in what percentage.
This sounds obvious when there’s a single owner, but it’s worth doing anyway. It creates a clear record that your family or successor can point to. And if you have partners, a co-owner, or family members with a stake, writing down the split removes one of the most common sources of confusion and disagreement later.
A few things to capture here:
- The legal name of the business and how it’s structured (LLC, S corp, sole proprietorship, and so on)
- Each owner and their percentage
- Business Address
- Any partners or family members with a financial interest
If the ownership has shifted over the years and never got updated on paper, this is a good moment to make the record match reality.
Gather Your Business Documents
Next, use document storage to bring your key paperwork into one place. If someone had to run or wind down the business without you, these are the documents they’d go looking for.
A starting list:
- Formation documents (articles of incorporation or organization, your operating agreement)
- EIN and business tax returns
- Business licenses and permits
- Any buy-sell or partnership agreements
- Business insurance policies
- Lease or property documents
- A list of key contacts: your accountant, attorney, insurance agent, and banker
- Business banking and account information
You don’t need all of it on day one. Add the documents you have on hand now, and keep a note of what’s still missing so you can fill the gaps over time.
Address Your Share in Your Will
Your ownership stake is an asset, the same as a home or a savings account. Your will is where you say who should receive it.
Using the will tool, you can spell out what happens to your interest in the business. That might mean passing it to a family member, directing that your share be sold, or leaving instructions for a co-owner to buy it out. Getting this in writing keeps your personal wishes and your business ownership pointing in the same direction, which isn’t always the case when they’re handled separately.
Where a Professional Comes In
Paige helps you organize your ownership, store your documents, and record your wishes. It doesn’t replace the guidance of an attorney or accountant, and it isn’t a substitute for a formal buy-sell agreement.
If your business has partners, employees, or real complexity, a good next step is to bring what you’ve organized in Paige to a professional. Walking in with your ownership mapped and your documents gathered makes that conversation shorter, cheaper, and far more productive. Think of Paige as the groundwork that makes the expert advice go further.
Come Back As the Business Grows
A business rarely looks the same two years running. Teams change, percentages shift, new agreements get signed, and old documents get replaced. The record you build in Paige is meant to move with it.
Set a reminder to revisit it once a year, and update it any time something significant changes: a new partner, a sale of shares, a major contract, or a change in how the business is structured. A few minutes of upkeep keeps the whole thing accurate for the people who may one day rely on it.
You’ve built something worth protecting. Getting it organized now is one of the more thoughtful things you can do for the people who come after you.
