Business Family Enterprise Report - Moving From Success to Significance

With ‘a massive transition of wealth and of business interests,’ enterprising families need advisors to work together, says Edmonton Bennett Jones lawyer with FEA

George Vukasin Jr. is president and CEO of Peerless Coffee and Tea, a company his grandfather started 100 years ago. He's a third-generation employee but thinks the family business might end with him.

In her new book, author and mother of two entrepreneurs, Margot Machol Bisnow, reveals what she learned from interviewing 70 of today’s thriving entrepreneurs and their parents.  She came away with the realization that the distinct way these parents raised their children contributed significantly to their success as entrepreneurs. Machol Bisnow extracts 10 particular parenting “rules” […]

There are of course more than five things that anyone could say about every subject, and family vision is one that I think should be discussed more broadly, more deeply and more frequently.

PwC report highlights how FOs have evolved from wealth preservation units to sophisticated entities, driving impactful and responsible investing.

How We Share Things That Happen Is Key Over the past decade or so, I’ve spent much of my time conversing with people from the family enterprise world. Many of them are part of existing or former family enterprises, and others are peers who now serve such families. (And lots tick both boxes!) What never […]

Turkey’s Ciner family abandons plan to float on FTSEIt was expected to breathe life into the ailing Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index (FTSE), indeed to be the first initial public offering of the year, but for the second time in two years, Turkey’s Ciner family has abandoned plans to list...

Ambani family considers stake in Lord’s 100 The family of Mukesh Ambani is in talks to take a stake in the team that plays at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. It is to do so via its sports arm Indiawin Sports.

Ray Dalio invests in shophouses in SingaporeThe family office of hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio has acquired two shophouses in Singapore for $18.9 million, according to reports in the Financial Times.

Family firms often prioritise ideas from family members, regardless of merit.When non-family ideas are ignored, morale and engagement suffer.Decision-makers need to recognise the value of all inputs.Mr Smith, head of Smith’s Family Restaurants, convenes a meeting to address declining customer...

Fakeeh family swells fortune after initial public offeringSaudi Arabia may be better known for oil billionaires, but healthcare can now be added to the list. The family of Soliman Fakeeh has increased its fortune to $2.9 billion following the overwhelming success of the initial public offering...

Frédéric Arnault named head of LVMH family holding groupAs we reported at the time, Frédéric Arnault was promoted to the board of luxury goods empire LVMH by his father, the current world’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, in mid-April. He has now been promoted once more.

Mowbray family tops New Zealand rich listLast week, the Mowbray family was named New Zealand’s richest family which knocked property and investment magnate Graeme Hart off a spot he has held for just over 20 years.The National Business Review's 2024 Rich List estimated that founders of...

Why do we often treat strangers better than our own family members? Discover the root causes and gain invaluable insights into transforming dysfunctional patterns within your family.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:34 Why do we treat strangers better than family?
01:23 What is the Cycle of Chaos?
04:30 Why are we harder on family?
05:42 When do you know it's not normal behavior?
09:04 One minute of wisdom

Unlock the secrets of family dynamics in Kim Eddleston's interview with Ruschelle Khanna, a seasoned therapist and consultant with over 20 years of experience guiding families through family business challenges.

Key Takeaways:
- Explore the impact of "Cycles of Chaos" on family businesses and learn how to address them effectively.
- Identify signs of dysfunctional patterns and discover actionable strategies for fostering healthier family relationships.
- Gain expert advice on navigating conflicts, setting boundaries, and cultivating kindness within your family.
- Learn practical tips to improve communication and understanding, even in challenging moments.

Ruschelle Khanna has been a therapist and consultant to families in enterprise for more than 20 years. She is also author of the book “Inherited Trauma & Family Wealth,” an upcoming book on moving past avoidance and denial to heal the family.

Experience the best of FamilyBusiness.org—now on YouTube! Thanks to the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, this invaluable resource remains absolutely free. Help us keep it that way—subscribe to our YouTube channel today!

At family-run firms, a founder who's adored can also be a tough act to follow for the next generation, making family business succession more challenging. In this interview with Kimberly Eddleston, family business consultant Meghan Lynch, who is co-Founder and CEO of the Six Point brand strategy agency, talks about how the succession process can be managed when the new leaders have big shoes to fill.

00:00 Introduction
00:43 Pros & Cons of Tying the Family Business to the Founder
02:49 Filling the Founder's Shoes
05:16 How to Transition Leadership
07:09 Tips for Keeping the Founder's Visions & Values
08:40 Capturing the Charisma of the Founder
10:21 Final Words of Wisdom

Experience the best of FamilyBusiness.org—now on YouTube! Thanks to the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, this invaluable resource remains absolutely free. Help us keep it that way—subscribe to our YouTube channel today!

FamilyBusiness org Editor Kimberly Eddleston talks with two sets of twins involved in their families' consulting businesses -- Jenny Dinnen and Katie Rucker of MacKenzie Corporation, and James and Ryan Fratzke of Fratzke. They discuss the challenges of forever being perceived as a duo, the rivalry that can result, and the awesome strength that twins can bring to their family business when they are aligned with each other.

Kaela Hammerstrom Combs is the second generation to run an organization founded by her mother decades ago -- Blessings in a Backpack, which works through schools to distribute food to students in need on Fridays. The provisions help the students, most of whom get free or reduced-price lunches at school,  and their families get through the weekend. 

While her mother passed away 15 years ago, Combs is committed to continuing her legacy of helping other families. In this interview, she shares how she honors her mom by educating skeptics in the community about hunger in their midst, forming partnerships with businesses and community groups to alleviate child hunger, and the impact her family's mission has had on the children and their families. Her experience holds great lessons for any family-run business or organization that hopes to continue the founder's spirit and mission in the next generation.

Memoirs, websites, videos and blogs can capture a family business's saga -- with all its challenges and triumphs -- shape a powerful image for customers and the community, and create a blueprint for future leaders of the firm.

FamilyBusiness.org Editor Kimberly Eddleston recently spoke with Dave Goetz and Melissa Parks, the co-founders of Journey Sixty6, a consultancy that has helped many family firms capture their unique sagas.  They've worked with clients to define five to seven "tentpole events" that shaped their history and forged their values.

One of their clients, a 100-year-old business, had survived through two world wars, tragic deaths, and a devastating fire. It was so beloved in the community that competitors offered to serve their customers while the business recovered from the fire, then handed them all back once the business was back on its feet. Journey Sixty6 spoke with an older member of the family, who was beginning to suffer from dementia, to capture these vivid memories before it was too late. 

As families grow and the next generation is prepared for leadership, it's especially important to capture the key moments that shaped the family's values so that they have a spiritual guide for conducting business. Many times it's a key birthday or anniversary that spurs families to begin capturing their histories. But as Goetz and Parks point out here, it's never too early to start. 

When it's time for a family business to have a new generation of leadership, it's often difficult for the first-generation founder to let go. Founders, proud of the businesses they have built, still yearn for relevance even as they realize that it's time for their sons or daughters to step up.

David Karofsky, Principal of the Family Business Consulting Group, talks with Family Business Editor Kimberly Eddleston about how the older generation can hand off the baton to the next generation with confidence and without regret. The key is for the generations to express their appreciation for each other, and to carve out a role for the older generation to continue to serve the company as a board member or top executive -- and then to transition the decision-making power to the new leaders.

Much has been written about how family businesses can have transition problems when the founder's children take over. Best Buy founder Richard Schulze and Ritch Sorenson of the University of St. Thomas propose that the next generation plays a critical role in helping the enterprise build on its founder's strengths, engage more deeply with a new generation of customers and employees, and re-tool itself accordingly. The biggest challenge, as Schulze points out in this conversation, is convincing Mom and Dad that things need to change.

The HBO hit series "Succession" -- detailing the family business conflict, backstabbing, jealousy and double-dealing at the fictitious family-run media empire Waystar Royco --has won several Emmys and attracted millions of viewers. While "Succession" is a work of fiction, the same family business conflict that dogged patriarch Logan Roy and his family can plague real-life family firms -- if they don't invest time in managing conflict and in family business succession planning, as Spencer Burke points out.

Burke, who is a teacher at the Olin School of Management at Washington University in St. Louis and leads the family business advisory practice at St. Louis Trust, sees many parallels between the Roys and other families who run businesses. "All of the stories are absolutely real, and that's why they're winning Emmy awards," Burke says in this interview with EIX's Kimberly Eddleston.

He compares Logan Roy and Waystar Royco to Sumner Redstone and his ownership of Paramount, Viacom and CBS. "Redstone was doing everything he could to prevent family members from being in the business, including committing all breaches of fiduciary duty, but he was outdone by his daughter," Burke says. He cites LVMH, the New York Times and Estée Lauder as other well-known businesses whose owning families had succession battles.

Sound governance, especially by outsiders when the family firm is well-established, can help control the excesses of the humans running the business and keep everyone aligned, Burke points out. "If it's all about power and money, the business won't sustain itself," he adds.

The construction industry remains stubbornly a male-dominated field, but Emily Bittenbender of Bittenbender Construction is giving it a new face and a new approach to managing. At age 29 she was capital programs director for the City of Philadelphia, managing 100 unionized workers and $3.2 billion in accounts. Twelve years ago she liquidated all her assets to create her own company and a work environment that felt like a family. Today Bittenbender Construction is thriving, and powered by a flat, collaborative organization that handles the inevitable pressure with humor and an ability to switch gears with ease. In this interview with Donna DeCarolis, dean of the Charles Close School of Entrepreneurs at Drexel University, Bittenbender shares her insights about what makes women effective leaders, especially in a man's world.