Family Business

Family business research provides a helpful tool by which to measure your company. Being aware how other family enterprises navigate the potentially turbulent waters can only make you smarter – and taking appropriate action makes you wiser.

Have you ever wondered how succession looks through the eyes of the successor – or successors? Plenty has been written about “how to” for the exiting seniors, but little has been said about how this looks and feels from the next generation in a family enterprise.

Sibling rivalries can leave families ruined and businesses destroyed. To avoid sibling rivalry overdose, families and businesses need to establish “best practices.”

Regardless of how your business was formed, or what your family system looks like, the family dynamics, culture, traditions and personality will permeate the business. As a family business you should embrace that and make the family and the company better because of it.

Some see the family business as a golden goose whose eggs they harvest and pawn, but want to take no responsibility for the health of the goose. Consultant Richard Segal explains how to develop good practices and maintain family harmony while working together toward common goals.

If good boundaries are established and maintained, then the typical borders that cause family business war – love, hate, greed and jealousy – will remain good reading in novels and not be the basis for real life soap operas.

Finding the point where the family decides that the business is not for sale is the point when things begin to change. Family business expert Richard Segal shares how families and businesses can grow with success.

Establishing a board isn't easy, but it is so very valuable for family businesses, where decision making is often complicated and convoluted. Family business expert Richard Segal offers key points in a two-part series.

A prime ingredient in expensive milk chocolate is something called roller-dried milk powder. While the label on the chocolaty confection may sound European, the roller-dried milk powder that contributes to the deliciousness inside should read Made in Detroit. Family-owned VernDale Products is the only company in the country that supplies the leading gourmet chocolatiers with a key ingredient that helps create their distinctive flavors. Thanks to a growing consumer demand for luxury chocolate, VernDale is adding a second plant in Detroit.

There is a delicate balance between family and business in decision making. So, what processes can be installed to examine those decisions and offer the best outcomes? Boards offer a process and structure that should offer the ability to improve decision making. First in two-part series.

Nov. 7, 2013 "Is the business for sale?" and "Whose decision is it?" are two questions that deserve deep understanding for family businesses to be successful.

Sept. 12, 2013 - If you are a family business the groupthink theory has to scare you. Can groups get to good decisions if the main goal is harmony and conformity?

June 6, 2013 - What is the final act for you and the family business under your watch? Understand that succession is not an event, but a process. It is most successful when the entire cast of characters works and plans together.

April 18, 2013 - The passing this winter of Dr. Leon Danco, the pinnacle of the family business consulting field, inspires reflection on his life and the struggles and rewards of business survival.

Jan. 10, 2013 - Business distress and family trauma at the same time is like multiple organ failure. I dare say that a family business might be more likely to survive the sudden unexpected death of the major shareholder and CEO, than to survive his or her divorce.

Oct. 18, 2012 - Honoring the past while creating a vibrant future - that is the philosophy Murdick's Fudge owner Bob Benser Jr. has when he looks at his family's current properties as well as future developments on one of Michigan's brightest gems, Mackinac Island.

Aug. 30, 2012 - Families that own businesses operate those businesses for the benefit of the family. Remember, It's called a family business, not a business family.

July 12, 2012 - What do you do about the family-member employee who just doesn't perform? Be collaborative in positioning your family in your company and never put the round peg in the square hole.

June 7, 2012 - Businesses are assets that can be bought, sold and liquidated. Families are a lifetime investment in love, support, nurturing and caring. Sometimes families aren't meant to be in business together, and recognizing it before the family is destroyed makes good sense.

May 17, 2012 - In addition to being aware of the economy and capital markets on a macro-level, as well as what is happening in their respective industries, owners of family businesses must consider their personal goals and the goals of their shareholders when it is time to move on.