Rena Striegel of Transition Point Business Advisors Helps Family Businesses Navigate Succession with Greater Certainty
DES MOINES, IA, December 2025 – Uncertainty is one of the most common challenges facing family-owned and agricultural businesses as they approach succession. Even families committed to transitioning ownership often struggle with unanswered questions about timing, readiness, and responsibility. Rena Striegel, President of Transition Point Business Advisors, works with families to replace that uncertainty with clarity that supports confident decision-making.
While many succession conversations focus on logistics, Striegel emphasizes the importance of addressing the broader conditions that create certainty. This includes communication, role clarity, and preparing both generations to understand what ownership truly requires.
“The next generation of ag leaders must see themselves as business owners,” Striegel said. “They are trained to be great operators but are often left out of the conversations and activities that will prepare them to run the business.”
Striegel notes that uncertainty often grows when successors are excluded from strategic discussions. Without insight into decision-making, financial responsibility, and long-term planning, future owners may feel unprepared when transition becomes imminent. Senior generations, in turn, may hesitate to step back if they are unsure about readiness.
Helping families navigate succession with greater certainty means addressing these gaps early. Striegel works with families to clarify expectations, define ownership responsibilities, and create transparency around how decisions are made. This approach reduces reliance on assumptions and timelines that may not reflect reality.
“The goal is to create as much clarity and certainty as possible,” Striegel said. “When we do that, stress and tension are reduced.”
By integrating communication, readiness, and decision-making into the succession process, families gain confidence in their path forward. Certainty does not eliminate complexity, but it allows families to move through transition intentionally rather than reactively.
About Rena Striegel
Rena Striegel is President of Transition Point Business Advisors and a nationally recognized authority in family business and agricultural succession. Raised in What Cheer, Iowa, she brings both professional expertise and lived understanding to the challenges facing multi-generational enterprises. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Central College in Pella, Iowa, and an MBA from the University of Iowa. She is the creator of The DIRTT Project and host of the Ag Inspo podcast.
About Transition Point Business Advisors
Transition Point Business Advisors supports family-owned and agricultural businesses through succession planning, communication alignment, and next-generation readiness, helping families navigate transition with clarity and confidence.
Website: Transitionpointba.com
Facebook: Renastriegel
YouTube: @TransitionPointBA
