In The News

Not every entrepreneurship story is “rags to riches”. Many high-flying entrepreneurs came from from upper-middle-class families. While they don’t owe their success entirely to mom and dad, without their parents’ help, be it financial or otherwise, they may have never gotten their ventures off the ground. Research has shown that 75% of entrepreneurs from 48 countries said that their family was involved in starting their businesses. Family money and background plays a critical role when it…

Unless your family business is a “mom & pop corner store” (which is more akin to owning a job than owning a business anyway), you will need to have a mix of ‘blood’ and ‘non-blood’ people working in it. As any business matures and grows, there becomes a need for professionalisation and systemisation. While owners may put a high value on the people in the business (especially family), the true value created in any business…

Family is (hopefully) for life. If the family business starts to interfere negatively with the relationships in the family, then there is imbalance. Family businesses are challenging because of the overlapping of family, business and ownership (known as the “three circle model”). Researchers from Harvard have extended this into four “rooms” by adding in the board room. Because family members wear multiple hats, are in multiple circles, or sit in multiple rooms, they need an…

Q: If the world’s two richest men cannot keep their wives happy, what hope do we have? A: No, that’s not a real question – it’s a meme that circulated following the news of the divorce of Bill & Melinda Gates. Many people with wealth realise that money can’t make a wife (or anyone) happy, but that doesn’t stop them trying. In business, sometimes we decide to “throwing money at a problem”. That means directing significant resources…

Q: How do we protect the next generation from blowing our money? A: Stop right there. Whether you have created or inherited the wealth, the language of the question reeks of a power, control and mistrust dynamic. Many families either hang on to their wealth or setup structures to prevent their children from “blowing it” (which is often controlling from the grave). Yes, it’s awkward having discussions about estate planning and family wealth, and who wants to…

Many families struggle with the ‘why’ of their wealth. Defining a philanthropic strategy is a great way for a family to articulate a purpose for their wealth. However, only 20% of families have a formal process for doing so. At the start of COVID, there was concern that financial pressure on families would lead to a reduction in philanthropy. But in a recent survey, 43% of respondents said that the pandemic had not altered the…

If you couldn’t bear to watch Megan Markle bare her soul to Oprah (or if you couldn’t look away from it, and from the endless commentary that followed), here are two practical things you can actually take from the latest episode of this saga: 1. There are serious challenges to growing up in a wealthy family with a public profile. The weight of expectations is heavy, and finding identity and meaning can be difficult. Marrying…

Q: We have three non-family board members in their 70s on our family board. How should we handle moving them on? A: The composition of the family board is a careful balance between family members & independent voices, and maintaining regular turnover is very important. Often, families will establish a board with some family members, the family lawyer & accountant, and perhaps some other trusted advisors. But without due attention to the board composition, the group can…

The Greek philosopher Plutarch asked: “People, where are you going? Doing everything to gain wealth, but not caring about your children, who will inherit it?” If the rising generation is supposed to take the responsibility of managing the family wealth, there should be enough time for them to learn and prepare. To avoid raising a bunch of “trust-fund kids”, the family needs to define clearly what they expect and invest time and resources to help…

Family business conflict is often over long-standing concerns relating to roles and contributions to the company as well as family issues like rivalry and jealousy, and can simmer just below the surface for decades. Nothing can undermine a successful family business faster than an unresolved conflict among its owners. One thing that distinguishes conflict in family businesses is that the owners make the rules and therefore can also break them. Family squabbles are usually highly…