Small-business owners avoid pitfalls, find achievement
Stacia Guzzo did some cancer research of a different color after her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago.
Real estate and construction company celebrates its 45th anniversary and growth
Family-owned businesses are the bread and butter of any community, and Metro Detroit is home to many examples of successful companies where multi-generational owners are the norm.
In October,...
If you can’t find equal in estate planning, shoot for fair
Estate plans try to be equal, but sometimes the best you can hope for is fair.
Michigan manufacturer celebrates 75 years as a family-owned business
When Martin Blanck founded his Detroit-based home improvement business in 1944, he might never have imagined it would grow into the longstanding, Michigan-based vinyl window manufacturer Wallside Windows.
Blanck was...
Q&A: Dan Musser on how the Grand Hotel preps for the Mackinac Policy Conference
This is “all hands on deck” time for Grand Hotel President Dan Musser III – this week is the Mackinac Policy Conference, which brings more than 3,000 people to Mackinac Island.
What should you do when the CEO ‘stays too long?’
The comparison of the aging athlete to the family business CEO has parallels. There is one huge difference though – the aging athlete is normally retired by a third party. Not so with the family business CEO.
Chip lovers far and wide will celebrate National Potato Chip Day with Better Made
What Detroit now knows as Better Made Snack Foods started as a simple 50/50 partnership between two men – Cross Moceri and Peter Cipriano – who both loved food...
Teamwork, staying agile key to this company’s long history
You may think that after a business celebrates a milestone anniversary – one year for restaurants, a decade or even half a century – they get to rest and relax a little. That would be a mistake.
How to master entrepreneurship — with your spouse
Working with a team of any size can be challenging – but imagine going home with your “work wife” or “work husband.” That’s exactly what Chad and Jami Buchanan...
When the pot is still simmering, family business problems won’t be resolved
Especially in a family business, the single best way to avoid conflict is to anticipate issues and resolve matters before the proverbial pot boils over.
‘How to decide’ could be the most important decision a family business has to...
Governance is a gigantic concept that encompasses global issues down to family dynamics.
Transitional Timing for a Generational Change in Ownership Can Be Key
T.S. Eliot was a famed twentieth-century British poet known for insightful quotes. My personal favorite is: “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.”
Before Crisis Strikes in a Family Business, Take Steps to Avoid a Disaster
It was a crisis! The holidays were in full bloom when the family received the news of a potentially fatal prognosis due to a rare disease.
HGTV Star Chip Gaines Outlines a Lifetime of Business Advice in His New Book
Of all the household names HGTV has produced, Chip and Joanna Gaines may be the most popular for their rustic style, Texan rough-and-tumble life and television show, “Fixer Upper.”
In-laws, Out-laws and How They Affect a Family Business
Few issues are more difficult to navigate in a family business than the role of in-laws, or out-laws for that matter. In either case, they are relatives by someone...
Steal This Idea: Get Help When You Make a Surprising Business Announcement
Media from radio to newspapers to blogs as well as social-media sites exploded with the news: Detroit’s beloved Henry the Hatter had lost its lease for its longtime storefront.
People assumed...
Think You Could Create a New Ice-Cream Flavor? Here’s Your Chance
What would you put in an ice cream flavored to represent the great city of Detroit? If you have some tasty ideas, Hudsonville Ice Cream wants to hear from...
Sibships – How does the sibling relationship affect a family business?
There is no relationship in life longer than that of siblings. And, like today’s families, sibships come in all shapes and sizes. The classic nuclear family has diminished in...
The Myths and Realities of Family Businesses are Worth Noting (and Celebrating)
Let’s start by defining a family business. The classic definition is a business where a single-family lineage has ownership control, is active in management and involves multiple generations.
But some...
Proper Planning is More Than Asset Allocation
Here’s the thing...good planning avoids conflict. But, good planning is much more than asset allocation.
Advisors implore their clients to plan for the future. They often use disturbing techniques like...
