When embarking on an entrepreneurial venture with anyone, including people you trust (i.e. family and friends), be assured that there are always risks involved. To protect your interests for the future, it’s advisable to make your business relationship official by...
Family Businesses
Employing family members in the business
Talking to MDs of family businesses, I am struck by how many started off working in the business during school holidays and then fell into the business after school or university and worked their way up to the top job as the company grew and they became the obvious...
Financing the Retirement of the MD, or a Major Shareholder in a Family Business
Planning the retirement of the MD or another major shareholder in a family business is often an emotional, complex and time consuming affair. It is normally, but not always in the case of death, a long term project spanning a number of years. The challenges and risks...
What is involved in succession planning in a family business?
This may sound an obvious question yet my experience of family businesses is that many business leaders don’t know how to get started with succession planning or they view it as a single event rather than an on-going process. There are three main processes involved in...
Why family businesses might consider putting governance structures in place
The buzzword of recent years is professionalising the management of family businesses. Not only does this mean appointing talent at the top of the organisation be it management or having a NED to advise and seek counsel from, it also means confronting the way...
5 things to do to ensure successful transition in the family business
In many recent surveys[1] nearly half of family businesses intend to pass on their business to their children, less than 44% have put a formal succession plan in place. In this blog we summarise the 5 things to do- following up in more depth in successive future...