The suffering can become acute when family-owned companies, especially ones that are young and growing, rely on family relationships for their business structure instead of taking the time to develop clear organizational lines of authority and accountability. It's painfully hard for some business-owning families to realize that while the family is still bound by its members' love and loyalty, the business has grown to become an organism of its own and has to be viewed and managed like one. Failure to develop an organization and systems strong enough to support a business's growing operations generate immense stress, both for those who understand the problem and want to solve it and for those who don't. Failure to plan and prepare for change. Senior family-business owners cause themselves and their families a lot of unnecessary stress when they resist making essential plans to guide and protect the family's and the business's future.
Tomorrow is scary enough because of all the variables that no one can control.
It can be downright terrifying when we refuse to control even those things that we can. For families in business, these are fundamental questions that demand answers in the form of sound, sensible plans and preparations for the next decade and the next generation. Not having those answers can be the cause of lots of sweaty palms and sleepless nights. Demands by family members outside the business. People who don't work in or otherwise contribute to the family company but who demand to share in its benefits can be a distraction to management and a dangerous drain on resources.