Sell, close, or continue? The transfer of US businesses is at a crossroads

According to a recent report from the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility, trillions of dollars in assets are at stake as a wave of small business owners in the US retire.

The risks are massive, right? At first, there's the potential for just viable businesses to close, right? These are perfectly healthy businesses.

These businesses drive tax revenue, they drive jobs.

They are the underpinning of communities across the country.

That's McKinsey partner Ken Yearwood, a co-author of the report.

He joins me and McKinsey senior partner Shelley Stuart III, another co-author, to talk about specific pathways for keeping these businesses open and what's really at stake in this great ownership transfer.

This is "The McKinsey Podcast," where we help you make sense out of the world's toughest business challenges.

I'm Roberta Fazzaro, your host for today.

[upbeat music] First up, here's Shelley to set the context.