family meeting

Sibships – How does the sibling relationship affect a family business?

04/13/2017

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 past decades, due to divorce, remarriage and parenting out of wedlock. So now we have more half-sibs, step-sibs and sibs by adoption. In addition, second and third marriages have created large gaps in sibling ages.

How does the fact that siblings share common parents in some form affect a family business? Here are some suggestions to make sibling management teams effective.

The Myths and Realities of Family Businesses are Worth Noting (and Celebrating)

01/26/2017

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 of those boundaries have become blurred. What about blended families? How about publicly traded companies? Would siblings who used “family money” for startup capital fit? […]

Never too late to re-ratchet good family business practices

11/10/2016

During a prospective client meeting with a family business beginning to transition to third generation, it became clear that there were decades of issues to be addressed. Dad’s estate plan had considered the inactivity of his one daughter in the family business and she inherited non-business assets equal to the value of 25 percent of […]

‘Business is Business’ and Family Dynamics

04/07/2016

The ‘business is business’ mindset can be a problem in a family enterprise. The family dynamics factor in a family business is strength and a weakness, an opportunity and a threat. Six best practices are proposed.