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.

John Abrams founded South Mountain Company in 1975 and served as its president and CEO until 2022. Under his leadership, the company became a pioneer in integrated architecture, engineering, 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 and democratic business practices, including B Lab, US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, and American Sustainable Business Network. 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 60+ triple bottom line businesses.