The Successor Cohort · Cohort 1

Twelve months preparing to run the company.

For the person who has been chosen to take over. Ten successors from ten different companies spend a year building a development plan and carrying it out, with a group session every month and a one-to-one with me every month.

The owner’s retirement usually depends on how well that goes. This year is about making sure it goes well.

Starts Thursday, March 11, 2027 · ten seats · fully virtual

Apply — about ten minutes

Applications close February 11, 2027 · I read every one myself · you’ll hear back within three business days

Who prepares the person who has to run the business?

When an owner hands a business to a successor, lawyers, bankers and brokers take care of the deal. Almost nobody prepares the person who has to run the business once the deal is done.

At this size, the deal usually isn’t how the owner gets paid. Most owners are paid over time, through a seller note, an earn-out, or payments out of future profits. So the owner’s retirement isn’t paid for at closing. It’s paid for by the successor running the business well for years afterward.

That makes the successor’s preparation the most underpriced part of the whole transition. A full cohort year at list is , about of a seller note. Nobody would leave a building worth that much uninsured. Here, the asset is the person. Run the numbers for your own business.

The year, month by month.

Twelve group sessions of three hours each, on the second Thursday of every month from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern, plus a one-to-one with me every month. From April to October, each session takes one part of the business in depth. Between sessions you work through your own plan, about four actions a month.

March 11 — Launch. You arrive with your development plan finished. The group tests it, and everyone names the first three actions they’ll take.
April 8 — Relationships. The relationships the business depends on, and how many of them still run through the current owner.
May 13 — Operations. Where the margin comes from, where the risk sits, and what could break.
June 10 — Sales. Why customers buy, how a sale really happens, the numbers to watch, and how much revenue rests on a few customers.
July 8 — Finance. The numbers that matter: cash, pricing, what the business is worth, and where it’s exposed.
August 12 — Processes. The processes the business can’t run without, and the judgment that leaves with the current leader.
September 9 — Executive Knowledge & Readiness. What changes when you’re the one in charge. Your strengths and their shadow sides — the ways they can work against you.
October 14 — Team. Your key people, who might leave, the culture people actually live by, and who could step into each important role.
November 11 — Mid-year plan review. Your plan, checked against eight months of doing it.
December 9 — Execution checkpoint. What has stalled, why, and what to change.
January 13, 2028 — Execution checkpoint. The hard conversations most people have been putting off.
February 10, 2028 — Transition readiness & close. Your readiness measured again against where you started, and a plan for your first 90 days in the role.

One thing is required before March: every participant finishes the Successor Coach Development Plan, which is included in the price. That way the first session starts with the work, not with an introduction to it.

What each side gets.

The successor

A full, dated development plan built on your own company, tested by peers and revised over a year.
A written record of what the owner knows that you didn’t.
Nine peers around the country who know your situation in detail, and who are still there after the year ends.
Your readiness measured at the start and again at month twelve.
A plan for your first 90 days in the role.
Continued access to the plan tool.

The owner

A better-prepared successor, on a timeline you can see.
A progress check-in with me every quarter.
Your own optional readiness assessment, and a comparison of your view with theirs.
A clear view of where the business is fragile or still depends on you personally, surfaced by your successor’s own work rather than a consultant’s audit.

What I tell the owner — and what I don’t.

The owner usually pays, but the successor is the client. What I share with the owner, and what I don’t, is written down and signed by all three of us before the first session.

The owner hears about: attendance and participation, progress on the plan, the actions the successor has committed to and where each one stands, and my professional view of what the successor should work on first.

The owner doesn’t hear: what’s said in our one-to-ones, the successor’s private concerns, or anything the successor tells me about the owner. And I won’t give a verdict on whether they’re “going to make it.” If that question needs answering, the three of us sit down together.

Everyone in the cohort signs a confidentiality agreement, direct competitors are never placed in the same cohort, and sessions aren’t recorded, so people can speak freely.

Who it’s for — and who it isn’t.

A good fit when

The successor has been chosen (named, even if it isn’t announced yet) and wants the preparation.
The business is established: usually two to ten million dollars in revenue and ten to sixty employees, with real cash flow beyond what the leader is paid.
The owner is being paid out over time, so the successor’s competence is the owner’s retirement income. This is the strongest sign of a fit.
The transition is usually one to three years away, and the current leader supports the work.

Not the right program when

No successor has been chosen yet, or several people are competing for the role. This prepares a chosen successor; it isn’t a tryout.
The business is being sold to an outside buyer.
The successor doesn’t want to be there, or is being sent to fix an attitude.

In those cases I’ll say no, and I’ll tell you what I’d do instead.

Who you’ll be working with.

David Delk spent 22 years at a national organization, where he succeeded its founder as President and then as CEO. He leads Delk Consulting, which brings operational clarity, execution, and accountability to small and midsize businesses. He also coaches many leaders in senior roles. Two recent ones: a next-generation CEO leading his family’s business of more than thirty years, and a PE-backed CEO taking over a regional IT firm.

Watch the method explained in six short videos →

Price and terms, plainly.

a month for twelve months, or for the year. That’s the founding-cohort rate; the list rate is a month, and later cohorts pay list. The founding rate comes with three asks: a testimonial, permission to write up your year as a case study (which you can withdraw), and the readiness measurement at month twelve.

You pay monthly, by card or bank transfer. The plan tool and all twelve one-to-ones are included.

Your first month’s payment holds your seat. It’s fully refundable until February 11, the day we confirm the cohort will run. The cohort needs at least four participants and takes no more than ten, and if it doesn’t run, every deposit is refunded automatically. Once it starts, the twelve months are a commitment rather than month-to-month; the withdrawal terms are in the agreement all three of us sign.

Fair questions.

Why not just coach the successor one-on-one?: Because of the other nine. A successor learns things from people going through the same transition in other industries that no coach can teach, including that their situation isn’t as unusual as it feels. One-to-one coaching on its own is available, at a higher price.
Who runs the sessions?: I do — every session, this year. Successor Coach is a brand of Delk Consulting, where I work with two other fractional COOs. Rick Burmeister covers finance discipline, the deal itself and growth-stage execution. Brandon DeJong covers operations, supply chain, and integrating an acquisition once it closes. As more cohorts run, they’ll lead the sessions in their own areas. Their bios are at delkconsulting.com.
Twelve months is a long commitment.: Preparing properly for a transition takes one to two years. A weekend workshop can get people excited; a year gives you time to carry out the plan and fix it as you go.
That’s a lot of money.: Compared with what? If this successor will be paying you out over the next several years, the real question is whether , a few percent of that payout, is a reasonable price to protect the rest of it.
Our industry is different.: Every business is different in the details. The seven areas apply to all of them, and the answers are yours. The person who spots your blind spot is often the one from a different industry.
What does the owner have to do?: Support the work, take an optional readiness assessment, and sit down with the successor to compare notes. That’s a few hours a quarter, and those conversations usually turn up things about the business worth knowing anyway.
Is our information safe with other companies in the room?: Direct competitors are never placed in the same cohort, everyone signs a mutual non-disclosure agreement, sessions aren’t recorded, and nothing is published: no client names, no revenue figures, and no case study without your written consent, which you can withdraw.
What if the timing slips?: Plans get re-dated; timelines slip all the time. And if the transition has already happened and you’re in the seat now, you can still apply. We’ll talk about what the year should cover.

The application.

This takes about ten minutes. I read every application myself, and I’ll tell you honestly whether the cohort is right for you, including when it isn’t. Your answers come to me and no one else. If it looks like a fit, I’ll email you to set up a thirty-minute call.

Who’s completing this?