November 26, 2023
When it comes to passing the business to the next generation, an awkward dance takes place. Parents are struggling with all kinds of issues: how to be fair, whether to be equal, when to gift assets...
November 12, 2023
Henry David Thoreau wrote “None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.” By this measure, if Mr. Thoreau looked inside a family business, he’d see very few old people. The senior generation...
October 29, 2023
“Liminality” is a word that connotes a transition between roles, stages, or phases of life: When you’ve left a station, but haven’t yet arrived with a sense of certainty about your new place or...
October 15, 2023
Marrying into a family business is an experience all its own. The expectations, language, unspoken rules, and assumptions about participation (or not) in both the family and business are often...
October 1, 2023
Family gatherings are special times. Meals, events, birthdays, memorial services, and graduations permeate life as an extended family. The occasions happen with some regularity, so it’s easy to take...
September 17, 2023
The transition of a family business to the next generation is a wonderful opportunity to continue your legacy, but it presents challenges to your relationship as a couple. Most of your life together...
September 3, 2023
When family members either don’t come back to the family business, or they return only to realize that they need to move on, it can be bittersweet. On the one hand, you feel as if some piece of you...
August 20, 2023
Forgiveness is a difficult but necessary element of being in business with family members. There is no doubt that living and working in close proximity will produce miscommunication, misunderstanding...
August 6, 2023
Many family businesses are blessed by long-term employees who care for the company as if it was their own. In fact, it sometimes feels as if their emotional and psychological ownership exceeds some...
June 18, 2023
Family businesses, and the industries in which they operate, mature over time. A company that began in survival mode becomes stable. Revenue increases. Customers grow. More opportunities arrive. But...