Generation to Generation

Conclusion

Lessons from the Life Cycles

THE BASIC GOALS of family business owners are not mysterious. They want their businesses to be profitable, providing a good standard of living for their family members and appreciating in value. They want their families to be comfortable, loving, and nurturing for all their members, and especially, most often, for their children. But many business families fear that the accomplishment of one of those goals will come at the expense of the other. They worry that family conflict, indifference, or unprofessionalism will undermine the ability of the business to thrive, undoing financial support for the family and eroding the legacy and the institution they have worked so hard to build. At the same time, they ...