Consulting to Business FAMILIES

Leadership of family businesses presents very specific challenges. My approach to working with enterprises owned by families combines an individual psychodynamic and systems approach to navigate strategic, generational and ownership transitions, while addressing the often-conflicting capital requirements of the business and liquidity needs of stakeholders.

Obstacles to careful, thoughtful and timely planning for business families may be rooted in the complex psychology of the owner or founder, and in their family dynamics; all of which must be understood for appropriate business decisions to be made. Often, I incorporate the philosophy articulated in Thomas William Deans’ book, Every Family’s Business. Simply stated: a family business should not be afraid to entertain options for sale, and must not allow the preservation of legacy to take precedence over the prudent assessment of the value of the business and the timing of a potential sale.

Examples of my work include consulting to a multi-generational business families to remove conflict in the ownership team and begin the transition to the next generation, helping a business determine the best candidate for successor, helping a father-son team negotiate business conflicts that had threatened their personal relationship, and helping a family deal with complex issues associated with a substance-abusing family owner.