Stories of Succession Planning

Our Planning is in Place!

If you've watched the amazing streaming series Succession, you witnessed a powerful patriarch reluctant to give up control of his business—not just control to interested third parties, but control to his own children. My father is a complete 180 from Logan Roy.

Robert William Simpson became a Notary Public in 1968 while juggling a family of 4 (I was born a year later). I’m not sure if he ever imagined that one day he would build up a significant Notary practice that would be run 56 years later by 2 of his 3 sons.

This article is about succession planning, but there was no planning on his part. Growing up, I knew he had an office and it was my job to clean it once a week, but I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell my classmates what a Notary was. Speaking with my brother, Dean, it was the same for him.

Dean, 12 years my senior, became a Notary in 1985. Dean practised in Vancouver initially as Notary Seals were limited at the time, then joined the practice a few years later when a Seal in Chilliwack became vacant, forming Simpson and Simpson with Dad.

With his energy and entrepreneurial spirit, Dean helped grow our firm, building on the relationships our dad had made in the community, particularly with local Realtors and lenders. That was never the plan, but I’m sure “Bob” was very pleased to be working side-by-side with his firstborn.

I graduated from university in 1990 and proposed to my now-wife Jacquie the same day, with the plan of taking a few years off to save money and travel. At that point, I didn’t know how I was going to use my degree so perhaps I would figure it out while travelling. One idea was to become a teacher; in hindsight, that would have given me the busy Summer month-ends off. (Notaries are very busy then.)

As Jacquie and I were winding up our travels, a light bulb appeared. Dad seemed to have a pretty solid occupation that afforded him time with his family and what seemed like a decent living.

I wonder if there’s room at Simpson and Simpson for me?

So, from France, I called home from a payphone and asked if there was an opportunity. Of course the answer was yes and I quickly made my way home to apply to become a Notary. As soon as I got back to Chilliwack, I started working to learn the business from the ground up while completing the Notary education program. In 1994, I graduated and haven’t looked back.

It was never planned, or even talked about, that Dean and I would become Notaries and join the family business, but here we are, almost 40 and 30 years later, respectively, looking at how and to whom our business will pass.

For the last 10 to 12 years, Dean and I have been laying down a foundation for succession to a new generation of Notaries. Will it include our children? Perhaps, but at this point, they are all either enjoying successful careers of their own or finishing their time at university. Dean has 4 children, and I have 2. We currently have 5 amazing Staff Notaries and are very fortunate they are all very busy. As Dean, then I, brought fresh ideas to the table, our new Notaries—with the benefit of the outstanding Master of Applied Legal Studies (MA ALS) Program at SFU and life experience—are upping our Notary game.

Having Staff Notaries has many benefits. We are able to divide office responsibilities like marketing, HR, Finance, conveyance procedures, and the list goes on. It also allows Dean and me to take time to practise for our future retirement.

Speaking of retirement, for us that is the main point of a succession plan. Yes, it will be cool and make us proud to see Simpson Notaries carry on without us, but what’s the point of building a business if it is worthless the day you retire? A business with value without Dean and me requires a strategy:

First, we have to have competent, skilled people in place who can take care of clients and staff when we aren’t present.
Second, we have to train our clients and referral sources to be confident in our entire organization and our Staff Notaries, not just the two of us.

We are happy to say we have ticked both boxes. Clients are either asking specifically for one of our Staff Notaries to serve them or they have no preference at all. My favourite thing—and this is happening more and more—is when I sit down with a client who has no idea who I am until I introduce myself. When that happens, I know we have built a company, not just a job.

The next stage of our succession plan is evolving and, at this point, we don’t know exactly what it will look like. There are several unknowns:

How do we put a value on our practice?
When will we be ready to retire?
Will we sell the whole practice or maintain a small share to supplement our retirement?
Which of our Staff Notaries will want to be a partner or, if none, to whom will we sell the practice?

There are still many questions but we are very happy to have started our succession plan, giving us time to put the final touches on it over the next few years.

BC Notary SCOTT SIMPSON practises at Simpson Notaries in Chilliwack.

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Succession Awareness

Being part of a family business makes its continuation feel natural, but it is the enjoyment of serving generations of families that drives the success of succession at Tong Mow Notaries— the mother-daughter Notary team of Susan Tong and Rosalyn Mow.

When my mother Susan Tong began her Notary practice in 1995, BC Notaries were less well known and a less popular profession. Many of her friends were unaware of the Notary profession and first heard about it from her.

Susan says, “Starting a Notary business in those days with no previous legal experience was a great challenge. I received my certificates from the University of British Columbia and The Society of Notaries Public but, at that time, no mentorship program was available.”

In those days, the Notary profession was limited by the number of Seals available for each area. As there weren’t enough Notaries to serve their community, the work-culture back then saw new Notaries opening up as sole practitioners. Many new Notaries relied on each other. My mother acknowledges her appreciation for the support and guidance she received early in her career from nowretired Notaries Catherine Yong and George Tanco.

Once her business established a stable clientele, succession planning was always on her mind. She had hopes of finding a partner to work alongside her to achieve a better work/life balance.

My early impressions of my mother’s Notary business were long hours of work buried behind desks covered in large stacks of paper. I am an only child. My mother would mention that I should become a Notary but I was far more interested in the ever-so-exciting field of natural health products and sports nutrition, due to my exposure to that field through my competitive gymnastics career.

It’s likely I sought escape from what I thought was a “mundane office job,” to be in an environment where products were endlessly growing with changing trends and innovation, and the work could be done without long hours or much risk of paper cuts. After working a corporate job in my ideal position, I quickly realized my interest in nutritional health didn’t translate to passion for a career.

At the same time, the Notary profession had evolved. The lift of the restrictions on the number of Notary Seals permitted, allowed the profession to grow; practising with a partner or joining a Notary firm was becoming more common. That allowed more opportunities for new Notaries to be mentored and attracted a younger demographic straight out of university. I was one of the youngest graduating Notaries from the Master of Arts in Applied Legal Services Program (MA ALS) at Simon Fraser University; the profession seemed a lot more available to me when it removed a previous requirement for 5 years of related experience.

I also realized the actual work done by a Notary was very different than what I had pictured as a child. With a combination of desk work, client meetings, and the occasional mobile visit (hospitals, care homes, etc.), the life of a BC Notary wasn’t as mundane as I had thought. In fact it offered a much more flexible structure where working harder meant a direct impact in helping a client achieve their goal—a rewarding concept that was missing in my corporate job where I felt like “a piece in a puzzle.” Any residual concerns about being buried under relentless paperwork were addressed when my mother’s firm became paperless in 2007 . . . one of the first BC Notary offices to do so.

Once I realized that becoming a Notary would offer a fulfilling career, I advised my mother of my decision. That news was met with surprise as I had always been vocal about my disinterest in following my mother’s footsteps—so much so that she hadn’t mentioned it in years. I had always wanted to pursue further education and had to take the long route in figuring out my career, to avoid any doubts or regrets.

Having me join the practice as a successor was a very natural process. We don’t recall discussing whether I would be inheriting the business. It was always about how it would happen.

My mother recalls how her clients often asked who would take over her business once she retired but, once I joined the firm, they would instead comment about how glad they were there was a successor so their children could continue as clients of the Notary practice. Most clients are unaware it’s a family business as we have different last names. When they discover the relationship, they express comfort in working with a related individual to handle their family business in the future.

Those types of connections and stories are some of the most memorable interactions we’ve had with clients over the years. Providing services to a client’s family and then their children brings us much pride in doing the work we do. We feel we are an integral part of the significant and most-often-happy moments in their lives. Whether it’s the purchase of their first home, first investment property, or naming a guardian for their first-born in a Will, those connections are relatable and makes going to our office a fulfilling experience that we thoroughly enjoy.

Looking at the future of the practice, my mother hopes 1 of her 2 grandchildren may be interested in the profession. I feel the same but don’t plan to express that interest to them directly. I know firsthand the benefits in trying different things; the profession will be different in 20 years in light of foreseeable changes to the legal landscape— alongside the BC Law Society . . . and the ever-looming advancement of AI.

In the meantime, I am interested in having a junior Notary join the firm to allow me to spend more time with my young family. I will always be proud to have family roots as the foundation of my Notary career.

BC Notaries SUSAN TONG AND ROSALYN MOW practise in Vancouver

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Working Hard to Succeed

I am a second-generation Notary Public. I made the decision to become a BC Notary after obtaining a Commerce degree from UBC and working in banking for several years.

The idea of being self-employed appealed to me as I would have more control over the direction of my career; I knew I wanted to work with people and deal with paperwork and money. My dad El Fedewich was a successful Notary; he loved his job and it appealed to me to have a career that I would also love.

I completed the 2-year Notary education program and articled with my dad for a year. It was a steep learning curve to become proficient with real estate transfers, mortgages, preparing Wills, and Powers of Attorney, and notarizing documents. My dad also prepared commercial leases and builder’s liens, transferred small businesses, and completed subdivision work. It took me about 5 years to become capable with all that work, but my dad was a good mentor and we had excellent staff who supported me in my learning.

It would have been a daunting task to start a business from scratch; it was much easier to join an existing business. I had the benefit of a large client base, existing procedures and precedents, and a great team of employees. My dad introduced me to his business partners such as Realtors, bankers, accountants, and mortgage brokers. Because of his endorsement, they accepted me despite my young age. I was 26 when I became a Notary.

I worked hard to earn the trust of clients, my staff, and peers. To do well, I reviewed files in the evenings to be well prepared. My staff appreciated my efforts, too, and we all worked together to further the business.

The business succeeded; we have been good to our staff and they have remained loyal to us. I signed an agreement to pay $340,000 for the business in 1995, the market rate based on the revenue and profit. That was a significant sum then; my detached house cost only $310,000 that year. The business was profitable and I was able to repay the debt to my dad (for the purchase of his practice) in about 5 years.

To enhance my knowledge, I joined Toastmasters and enjoyed that for 5 years. Practising public speaking helped me in client meetings and gave me the tools to market my business to larger groups.
To become known in the local community, I joined the Chamber of Commerce and helped establish the Cloverdale Rotary Club.
To learn more about estate planning, I worked with financial advisors and spoke at their presentations about estate planning; in turn, I learned about financial planning from them.
I volunteered as a guest speaker on noncontentious legal topics for community groups and I continue to do that today.

After I had been in business about 13 years, my husband Norman Witt entered the Notary education program. He already held an MBA and a BA and had managed real estate for 15 years. After the first week, Norm raved about how nice our clients are. I replied that was why I had wanted to join this business.

Due to his related business experience, Norm felt quite comfortable with the work after just 2 years. We have worked together now for 17 years. We both love working as BC Notaries. Having a Notary partner allows us flexibility so we can spend time away from the business when we want and share the workload.

I have had the pleasure of serving on the Board of The Society of Notaries for 6 years, being an instructor for Notaries’ practical training for 25 years, and serving on the Board of Examiners for BC Notaries for 6 years. Having a Notary partner allows me to be away from the business to teach while the business runs along smoothly. As a couple, we have good work/life balance that allows us to pursue sports, travel, and spend time with family and friends. Excellent, capable Roving Notaries Greg Litwin, Michael Kravetz, and Irina Bartnik fill in for us so we can take holiday . . . they keep us rejuvenated.

Many other great Roving Notaries have worked for us over the years. We just returned from a trip to La Paz, Mexico, where we swam with a 5-metre whale shark and did some great SCUBA diving in Cabo Pulmo. We are looking forward to a fabulous holiday in Europe in September with friends. Life is good!

I just celebrated my 30th year in practice and our business celebrated 45 years in business. We are keen to continue the business and would like to bring in a Notary partner who has similar goals to carry the business forward for the next 30 years!

I’m sure glad I followed in my dad’s footsteps.

BC Notary TRISH FEDEWICH practises in Surrey (Cloverdale)

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