The leading Family Business Resource Center (FBRC) providing connected solutions to the unique and complex issues that confront family businesses is sponsored by the Family Business Institute and is headquartered in Atlanta GA.
Our team of family business experts provide coordinated and connected strategies for resolving problems that can wreck family relationships and destroy a family’s business.
Every business has risk factors that can affect outcomes – but the single biggest fear shared by family business entrepreneurs are not those external risk factors in the marketplace – it is the fear of self-inflicted internal problems caused by a family member(s) – those problems that fracture relationships with employees, customers, vendors and other family members.
Let’s face a simple truth - it is hard to have a successful business when the family is not able to work well together!
On the other hand, just because a family works well together does not mean that the family’s business will grow and prosper. Obviously the key to running a successful family business is when the family business owner is able to solve problems for both the family and the business – and that can be hard to accomplish.
Successful family business entrepreneurs tend to be good risk managers – they are confident they can tackle any type of problem. But what happens when they are working a problem and they have exhausted all they know to do? Where can the family business owner turn when they need help?
There is not a scarcity of advisors and consultants who sell their services to family businesses and all of them would agree that family businesses are extremely complex business models. It is part of their selling proposition – that they can help the business to overcome their adversities.
The problem for a family business owner, when he/she is seeking help from advisors and consultants, it is not uncommon for the so-called experts to be trying to solve problems that are beyond their competencies - regardless of their professional training and experience.
What this means to the family business owner needing help is what we refer to as “sequential solutions”. This is where the family business gets a different set of problems and priorities to consider, depending on which expert they are talking with.
For example the lawyer offers legal advice, the accountant offers financial advice, the social worker or psychologist offers relationship advice and the financial planners offer money management advice.
It is easy to understand how confusing this can be – especially if these professionals are being used independent of one another and offering conflicting recommendations!
Think about this way - if a company sells elevators they are unlikely to suggest escalators as a way of transporting people! The same holds true for professional service providers – each has a limited tool chest so when you are a hammer, every problem is a nail!
For the family business owner, these "sequential solutions" translate into wasted time and money – yet the problems still persist long after the advisors and consultants have come and gone.
“A multi-disciplined team approach makes the most sense,” according to leading family business expert
Don Schwerzler.
“What makes our holistic approach so effective and cost efficient is that all of the professional service providers are operating from one single diagnostic – what we refer to as the
Family Business Assessment
.”
Schwerzler has been studying and advising family business entrepreneurs since 1967 – a career span of more than 40 years. He is the founder of the
Family Business Institute
and the Internet organization
Family Business Experts
, both of which are headquartered in Atlanta GA.
“As a Family Business Resource Center (FBRC) we can help a family business to grow in size and profitability, help maintain healthy family relationships, help insure the financial security of the senior generation, to help organize their
Family Business Advisory Board
and to provide the necessary guidance as the
Nexters
take on more responsibilities for the succession management process," says Schwerzler.
Part of the services of our Family Business Resource Center (FBRC) includes complimentary subscriptions to our e-zine
Understanding Family Business
and to our
Family Business Blog.
Another popular service offered to family-owned businesses by our Family Business Resource Center is the Family Business Help Desk. If you have a question about a problem that is impacting your family’s business – we can help. Simply use the form at the bottom of this page to ask a question to receive a confidential response.
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