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Wolfgang Puck might hold the answer to a big problem for small-business owners.

Puck is navigating a challenge many aging business owners face: succession planning.

The 76-year-old chef and his 31-year-old son, Byron Lazaroff-Puck, spoke with BI's Anneta Konstantinides about the eventual changing of the guard at Puck's restaurant empire.

To be clear, Puck isn't ready to hang up his chef's coat just yet. But Lazaroff-Puck, who is president of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, is taking on more responsibilities in his father's business after starting out as a dishwasher.

Most SMB owners don't have 25 fine-dining restaurants, over 1,000 employees, and a global brand to consider. But the size of Puck's business doesn't insulate him from the challenges every owner faces when reaching retirement age.

Lots of boomers who have spent decades as the face of their company — whether it's plumbing or Michelin-starred restaurants — grapple with how (and to whom) they pass the baton.

A February report from McKinsey found that roughly 6 million SMBs will face ownership transitions by 2035 because of retiring boomers. But there's a catch. Only 1 million of those businesses were deemed "viable candidates for sale" per the report, meaning the vast majority are at risk of closure if they don't find a successor.

So mom-and-pop shops need to turn into daughter-and-son shops … and fast.

Lazaroff-Puck didn't initially want to take over his dad's business.

He told Anneta his first love was painting, but it wasn't long before he realized he was better off in the kitchen than behind an easel.

Puck, for what it's worth, didn't pressure his son to follow in his footsteps, recognizing how draining the hospitality industry can be.

It's a common refrain among some small-business owners: running a business is a grind, and parents want an easier life for their kids. However, these days, joining them could actually be a safer bet.

The arrival of AI has sent Corporate America on a layoff-driven efficiency crusade. That's made SMBs, particularly AI-resilient blue-collar ones, potentially more secure.

The SMB career path has already caught on with white-collar types who don't have a family business to adopt. Last year, BI's Aki Ito wrote about MBA grads rushing to launch search funds to scoop up small businesses they could run.

Whether it's business owners' children, Wharton grads, or PE firms embarking on their next big roll-up, the impact on the US economy is notable. SMBs represent 99.9% of US companies and employ almost half the country's private-sector workforce.

That's a lot of people who could be out of work if someone's not willing to take over.