The senior generation has the legal responsility for executing the succession plan but why not assign the responsibility for organizing the succession management process to the Nexters?

NEXTERS

Do you have a strategy in place to future proof your family business?

“That is a question every family business owner should be asking – and answering,” according leading family business expert Don Schwerzler.

FUTURE PROOF YOUR FAMILY BUSINESS

Best selling book EVERY FAMILY'S BUSINESS advocates an interesting exit strategy option every family business owner should consider. When we begin working with a family business client, we start our discussions with the family business owner talking about the owner’s exit strategy options. The most commonly held notion is that the family business owner would like to pass the family’s business to the next generation of family to own and manage – the idea of creating a family business legacy is very compelling. But is the “legacy” option the best decision in terms of protecting family wealth?

EVERY FAMILY'S BUSINESS

Family Business Experts editors sat down with best selling author Thomas Deans Ph.D., to learn more about his ground breaking and what some would describe as a controversial book Every Family’s Business.

THOMAS DEAN INTERVIEW - Every Family's Business

We have added new sections to our web site, where we invite family business owners and key executives to share their thoughts, ideas and recommendations with other family businesses.

FAMILY BUSINESS FORUM

Our Family Business Forum section is a "soap box" where family businesses can offer fresh ideas to the politicians in Washington who are considering new polices to help improve the success of family businesses. We also encourage family businesses to offer cost saving suggestions that could prove helpful to other family businesses.

CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND

The Creature From Jekyll Island is a book that combines history and mystery! It is a great book for every family business owner -and their kids!

EDWARD GRIFFIN INTERVIEW

Read an interesting interview with Edward Griffin, author of the best selling book The Creature From Jekyll Island.

TRUE CRIME STORIES

Family businesses often are victimized by trusted key employees who embezzle money, inventory and services. We invite family businesses to share their experiences in dealing with fraud and other types of crime - to help other family businesses better understand how important it is to be ever vigilant. Here is an opportunity to help other family businesses from becoming a crime victim!

FAMILY BUSINESS MISSION STATEMENTS

The growth and profits of a family business are influenced by the infra-structure of the business - the process from moving from an entrepreneurial style of management to a more formalized or professionalized style of management. Developing an effective mission statement for the family business is often the first step in that process. We invite family businesses to post their mission statement so others can see "real world" samples of family business mission statements.

Family Businesses should have a contingency plan in place – a “What Happens If” plan.

One of the remarkable stories out of Katrina was Oreck, the company that manufactures and sells/services vacuum cleaners. Their plant on the Gulf Coast was heavily damaged – but because they had a well thought out contingency plan, they were able to be back in business 9 days after Katrina hit. FEMA could take some lessons…. You can read about Oreck’s success story by clicking on the link at the bottom of this Blog.

Contingency planning can cover many different situations – from natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, fire, floods, swine flu and including the unexpected death or incapacitation of key members of a management team.

To read more about contingency planning for your family business,

FAMILY BUSINESS CONTINGENCY PLAN

Given the mess in Washington DC and Wall Street, we are advising our family business clients to take action – to create a stimulus package for their own family business!

If you are a family business owner, it is time to circle the wagons and do a complete “up and down” analysis of your business. Simply put, what can be done to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your business?

One approach, probably the most effective methodology for a family business owner to analyze their business and assess the various components, is to do a SWOT ANALYSIS.

It is easy to do and the SWOT process can produce powerful results, quickly.

SWOT ANALYSIS

All that is needed to do a SWOT ANALYSIS is a pencil and a pad of paper – and then asking some basic questions about the “whys and what fors” of your business. It is literally that simple!

Obviously, the better the questions, the better the results the SWOT ANALYSIS will produce.

A clever tool to help generate questions is an inexpensive tool called CHAOS BUSTERS – The Management Guide. It presents 160 key business questions one can use when doing a SWOT ANALYSIS. Think of the SWOT ANALYSIS being the pistol and Chaos Busters being the bullets!

Chaos Busters can be used for more than SWOT ANALYSIS – it really is a multi-purpose tool that can be used for many different kinds of applications.

Family business owners report how they use Chaos Busters as a way to better organize the focus of the management team – to help them see and get connected to the “big picture”.

Executives seeking employment report they are using Chaos Busters to help them ask better (more effective) questions during the interview process.

Management consultants and business advisors use Chaos Busters to better understand their client's businesses, to prioritize problems and to provide better (more comprehensive) solutions.

CHAOS BUSTERS

Reminders...

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