From Founder to Future: A Business Roadmap to Impact, Longevity, and Employee Ownership

Learn how to transition leadership, implement shared ownership, and preserve your organization's core values--setting the stage for your business to thrive for generations to come.

This visionary but practical handbook offers mission-driven business owners a roadmap for ensuring their company's lasting impact, building leadership internally, and fostering participatory management.

Through inspiring real-world stories of B-Corps, worker co-ops, ESOPs, and employee ownership trusts, this book demonstrates how to create resilient organizations that benefit workers and communities.

Drawing on his 50-year journey with South Mountain Company and extensive research, Abrams outlines five critical transitions for mission-driven businesses to become what he calls a CommonWealth company:

• From founder to next-generation leadership
  
• From sole ownership to widely shared
  
• From hierarchical control to democratic management
  
• From unprotected mission to preserved purpose
  
• From business-as-usual to B Corp force for good
  

From Founder to Future is an essential guide for mission-driven leaders seeking to reshape their businesses for inclusivity, longevity, and positive impact. Whether you're a retiring owner planning your exit, a young entrepreneur building for the future, or an employee working in a purpose-driven business, this book offers a blueprint for creating enduring, values-driven enterprises in the emerging regenerative economy.

As 3,000,000 U.S. small business founders over 55 prepare to retire, $10 trillion in assets will change hands over the next two decades. This timely guide shows how to preserve your company's mission and legacy while empowering the next generation.

Author: John Abrams
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 06/03/2025
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.92h x 10.07w x 0.45d
ISBN13: 9781523006816
ISBN10: 1523006811
BISAC Categories:
- Business & Economics | Leadership
- Business & Economics | Development | Sustainable Development
- Business & Economics | Small Business | General

About the Author
John Abrams co-founded South Mountain Company in 1973 and served as its president and CEO until 2022. Under his leadership, the company became a pioneer in integrated architecture, building, and solar services, as well as a leader in worker ownership, leadership transition, and social mission innovation. Abrams is deeply connected to organizations promoting sustainable business practices, is a long-time affordable housing activist, and recently co-founded Abrams+Angell, a consultancy which guides employee ownership conversions. He is the author of Companies We Keep, which has sold over 10,000 copies, and a co-founder of Building Energy Bottom Lines, a peer group network of 70+ triple bottom line businesses.