Your Business, Your Family, Their Future

Book excerpt: From mom-and-pop stores to Fortune 500 corporations, the family business as an institution is widespread and enduring—yet only 30 percent of family enterprises successfully transition to the next generation. In this accessible and deeply informed new book, family enterprise expert Emily Griffiths-Hamilton (author of Build Your Family Bank: A Winning Vision for Multigenerational Wealth) shares the secrets of successful multigenerational family enterprises. Through extensive research and personal and professional experience as a member of and advisor to family enterprises, Griffiths-Hamilton has developed an unconventional approach that looks beyond narrow business considerations to focus on the critical aspect of every family enterprise—the “family factor.” Successful multi-generational family enterprises, she explains, are animated by a unifying vision that rests on shared values. Mutual trust and strong communication skills are vital for families to articulate these foundational elements, which will then inform a “family enterprise framework” that can endure for generations. Planning for the long-term health of a family business doesn’t need to be complicated. Beginning with a single meeting, family enterprises of every shape and size can use the insights in this book to build robust frameworks that will reward their members for decades to come—not just financially, but with strengthened family connections, a shared sense of purpose, and perhaps most importantly, a bit of fun.