Posted inFamily Business

Why Succession Planning is a Multi-Year Process

Succession Planning. That seems to be the #1 issue people talk about when it comes to family businesses. And just about every consulting, accounting, legal and financial group claims to do it and do it well. Talk to family business owners over 55 and they'll tell you that "succession" is probably their highest concern and, at the same time, their most confusing concern. Those who are on...
November 1, 2020Posted inFamily BusinessTags:
Family Owned Businesses Pay Attention to Good Governance
Posted inFamily Business

Family Owned Businesses Pay Attention to Good Governance

The way corporations work in America, there are four roles that need to be filled: DirectorOfficerShareholderEmployee What are the responsibilities of these four roles? What happens when family members who own a business fulfill all four roles? Let’s dive in and find out. Role Responsibilities Each role in a corporation is an important one and its’ proper function in a corporation should be called-out and respected. Shareholders...
October 23, 2020Posted inFamily BusinessTags:
Justice is Never Enough
Posted inFamily Business

Justice is Never Enough

In an effort to gain justice while ignoring forgiveness, family members in family businesses suing each other is not uncommon. In the last couple of years, I’ve run across several situations in which family members sue each other to find justice. Nevermind that justice is never enough. Forgiveness needs to be part of the picture if a family business is going to survive with the family intact....
October 3, 2020Posted inFamily BusinessTags: ,
Cabins and Family Conflict
Posted inFamily Business

Cabins and Family Conflict

I was in a meeting recently with several professionals, one of whom is a lawyer and specializes in family litigation – most of it pertaining to family businesses. He told us that cabins cause more family disputes and litigation than do family businesses. He also noted that it is probably easier to pass on a family business to the 2nd generation than it is to pass on the...
September 19, 2020Posted inFamily BusinessTags: , , ,
I Can’t Marry Into This
Posted inFamily Business

I Can’t Marry Into This

Editors Note:  This story is a compilation of three different calls I received in the last year which were remarkably similar.  All three found me via this web site and called me for advice. Two were female, one was male. The names and particulars have been changed or merged so that their identities are protected.  But their story is repeated every day, in nearly every county across...
September 19, 2020Posted inFamily BusinessTags: , , ,
Role Confusion in Family Owned Businesses
Posted inFamily Business

Role Confusion in Family Owned Businesses

In most family owned businesses – whether Christian or not – there is usually an enmeshment of roles for family members who work in the business. They confuse the four roles that anyone can play in a corporation: Shareholder Board of Director Member Corporate Officer Employee It's not uncommon for individual family members to hold all four of these roles and then combine the distinct authorities of...
January 3, 2017Posted inFamily BusinessTags: ,