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…
Children tend to grow up with their parents as role models and therefore their benchmarks of success. Now, here is some real research on generational difference. According to a study by Oxford University academics, men who surpass their parents’ qualifications report lower levels of psychological stress, while those who do worse are more likely to feel depressed, lonely or sad. Women, however, have no such hangups. The study is quite extensive – using European Social…
What have you noticed about the difference between the way you and other generations (up or down) use social media? I stumbled across a wonderful article that deals with the intersection of two of my favourite topics: intergenerational issues and the impact of social media on society. It analyses the starkly different ways that Facebook is used by Baby Boomers, as opposed to Millenials. It comes from a web site called The Cheat Sheet, which is…
Consider This: How do you explain your family wealth to young children? At what do you start this process? How do you say ‘no’ to them and place limits on their spending when they reply “but we can afford it”? Affluenza and entitle-itis are some of the newest ‘diseases’ that afflict the wealthy, and of course there is always the ubiquitous ‘privilege’ that almost everyone is now obliged to check. In her book Uneasy Street:…
I think the notion of generational wars is a perpetual myth (or perhaps a perpetual truth). Every generation has certain influences which drive their attitudes (political & social) and thus the policies enacted by their leaders. It’s very easy to point cross-generational fingers of blame, but very hard to sit in the other-generational seat and play judge. Have the Baby Boomers ruined the US economy (and the world) for the Millenials? That’s what Bruce Gibney…
As The Economist magazine poignantly wrote: “Inheritance is a process, not an event”. According to Australian research, family businesses are ill prepared for succession planning, appointing a new CEO, or even a strategy for the future of the business. The first consideration is whether anyone in the family even wants to take over the business – plenty of children have no interest. Then, decide if the current owner(s) want to hand it over. Any successful…
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…
And does being ‘happy’ mean something different to those who have wealth and those who don’t? These are the questions considered in a recent research study. Most anyone who has wealth would find it obvious that the answer to the first question is a resounding ‘no’, but it takes the rigour of an academic to first define happiness (life satisfaction and a set of distinct positive emotions), and then examine the correlation between them and…
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