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Figures and sources

Business transfer in family businesses: the figures

Two-thirds of business owners want to stop within ten years. Nearly half of them have no successor. And forty percent of crucial knowledge walks out the door within five years. Below are all the figures we could find, with sources, years, and an honest assessment of how reliable they are.

Last updated: August 20, 2026

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How to read these figures

1. The size of this group

Family businesses are not a niche category. They are the largest part of Dutch business, especially in the smallest sizes.

300.000

family businesses in the Netherlands

HardCBS, 2024 (for 2022)
€ 595 million

revenue, and € 152 billion in added value

HardCBS, 2024
71%

of businesses with 2 to 10 employees are family businesses

HardCBS, 2024
22%

of locations in Overijssel are family businesses — the second-highest share in the country after Zeeland

HardCBS, 2024

2. The wave of handovers that’s coming

This is the block that carries the urgency. The entrepreneur ages faster than succession is arranged.

2 out of 3

entrepreneurs want to stop within ten years

ReasonableABN AMRO / Ipsos I&O, n≈520, Dec 2025
22%

of them have no concrete succession plans yet

ReasonableABN AMRO / Ipsos I&O, Dec 2025
20%

is looking for a successor, but hasn’t found one

ReasonableABN AMRO / Ipsos I&O, Dec 2025
13%

of entrepreneurs are 65 or older, compared with 7% in 2010

ReasonableABN AMRO / Ipsos I&O, Dec 2025
85.000

family businesses (29%) are working on ownership succession RIGHT NOW

ReasonableNyenrode / RSM / Van Lanschot Kempen, n=232, 2024
50 / 16 / 5

percent want to transfer ownership within the family, to a key buyer, or to private equity

ReasonableNyenrode / RSM / Van Lanschot Kempen, 2024
Van alle ondernemers wil twee derde stoppen, en ruim vier op de tien van hen heeft geen opvolger Alle ondernemers 100% Wil binnen tien jaar stoppen 67% Van hen: geen opvolger geregeld 42%
Of the business owners who want to quit, 22 percent have no concrete plans and 20 percent are still looking for a successor. Together, that’s more than four in ten. Source: ABN AMRO and Ipsos I&O, December 2025.

3. What goes wrong during the handover

37%

sets up safeguards during the transfer that limit the successor’s freedom to act

ReasonableRSM / Heugens, New blood, new direction
30 / 13 / 3

percent survive the first, second and third generational transitions

ContestableECFB / RSM with BDO and Rabobank — see note
Be careful with 30/13/3

This is the figure everyone in this market quotes. The 13 and the 3 trace back to research by John Ward in 1987, conducted among two hundred industrial family businesses in Illinois. That’s a narrow basis for a claim about today’s Dutch SME sector. So we use it only with this caveat — and set it alongside figures from ABN AMRO, which are about the Netherlands today.

The same study found that after the handover, successors take fewer risks on average, pay out more dividends, and invest less in research and development. So the brake isn't just in the handover itself, but in what comes before it.

4. Knowledge that leaves with people

This section gets to the heart of it: a handover changes not only ownership, but also the company’s memory.

41%

of critical practical knowledge is held by colleagues who will retire within five years

ReasonableROVC TechBarometer, 2026
37%

of organizations consider themselves insufficiently prepared for that knowledge loss

ReasonableROVC TechBarometer, 2026
47%

calls an aging population the development with the greatest impact in the coming years

ReasonableROVC TechBarometer, 2026
75%

of people over 55 disagree with the statement that older colleagues keep their knowledge to themselves

ReasonableROVC TechBarometer, 2026
The figure that turns the picture around

The usual story is: the older generation won't let go. The numbers say otherwise. More than two-thirds don't identify with the idea that older people withhold knowledge; among people over 55, it's three-quarters. There's no unwillingness. There's nowhere for that knowledge to go. That's a design problem, and design problems can be solved.

A note: the TechBarometer surveyed technical organisations. For other sectors, it’s a strong indication, not proof. What does stand out is that smaller organisations with up to 250 employees are more likely than larger ones to actively organise knowledge transfer. Read more at what a Bedrijfsgeheugen is.

5. How digitalization affects the value of your business

For those planning to sell eventually, this is the section that adds value.

5,0

average EBITDA multiple in the Dutch SME market — the highest since measurements began in 2015

ReasonableBrookz / Dealsuite, n=291 offices, H2-2025
54 years

average age at which business owners sell, 59 ten years ago

ReasonableBrookz / Dealsuite, H2-2025
Digitalization has become a valuation factor in 2026

Brookz states it plainly: buyers focus on companies with digital strength, scalability and predictable revenue. Where previously only turnover and profit mattered, how digitally mature a business is now also counts. In the that comes back as a risk with a name: dependency on the entrepreneur or on a few key employees with knowledge that is not documented anywhere, alongside verbal agreements and administration that is not in order.

More on this: due diligence and exit and investors and M&A.

6. Where SMEs stand with AI

17,8%

of businesses with 10 to 19 employees use AI technology

HardCBS AI Monitor, for 2024
59,2%

of businesses with 500 or more employees do so

HardCBS AI Monitor, for 2024
36 / 30

percent use AI for marketing and sales, and for administration and management tasks, respectively

HardCBS AI Monitor, for 2024

The barriers mentioned are consistently the same: lack of knowledge and skills, limited digitalization, costs, and fear of job loss. See also AI and governance.

7. What there are no figures for

We haven’t been able to find Dutch research that firmly establishes these three connections:

  • documented knowledge and processes versus a higher multiple
  • documented knowledge and processes versus a shorter deal timeline
  • documented knowledge and processes versus the likelihood of a successful transfer

Everyone in this market claims it makes a difference. Nobody measures it. That's why we measure it ourselves: the Business Memory Index takes ten minutes to map what resides in people's heads and what it costs you. The more companies take part, the sooner this section will be a figure rather than a gap.

Take the index →

Sources

  • CBS — Nearly 300,000 family businesses in the Netherlands (2024, figures for 2022)
  • ABN AMRO / Ipsos I&O — Sector forecasts 2026–2027, survey of more than 500 entrepreneurs (December 2025)
  • Nyenrode Business Universiteit, RSM, and Van Lanschot Kempen — survey of 232 family businesses (2024)
  • Erasmus Centre for Family Business / RSM, with BDO and Rabobank — New blood, new direction
  • ROVC — TechBarometer (2026)
  • Brookz and Dealsuite — M&A Barometer H2-2025, among 291 M&A advisory firms
  • CBS — AI monitor, ICT use by businesses (2024 figures)

A figure outdated or misquoted? Let us know — this page is kept up to date.

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What if Peter leaves? Two out of five rules on this page disappear. That's how it feels when knowledge isn't part of the company.

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