ement or inheritance!

The business can’t succeed unless critical ownership and management can demonstrate their ability to perform to norms that are at a minimum required for profit, growth, and value building. You need to clearly outline what other critical employees can expect of that family manager... thus respect, leadership, non-family employee accountability, and the opportunity to maximize planned profit and revenue growth become practical and achi

Upon reading of the death of Peter Drucker, I was reminded of the problems of family business, individual accountability, and succession of which he wrote years ago.

In the over 30 years that I have worked with family owned businesses there have been so many occasions where the business is on the brink of failure, will fail, or has substandard performance because the company has not been prepared for “up and comers” from the family within the enterprise.

All too often family business “up and comers” are unprepared with a lack of financial management or operational management training and preparation. They are also unprepared to make capital investments in equipment, plant, marketing, or key personnel because these have been ignored for years in favor of stripping the company of resources and cash in order to "turn a profit".

Often times, even if these problems have not taken place, some or all of these “up and comer” successors, will never make it in the business. Instead, their lack of skills, absence of capacity to manage and lead, and lack of earned respect from critical non-family employees dooms the enterprise to mediocrity or failure.

One of the best investments family ownership can make is to contract with experienced, performance-oriented resources to solve these problems. These resources, contractors, consultants, create implementable programs of business training in the financial management of that particular business, in operations, and sales management.

Using these types of resources, up-and-comers can learn operational roles, earn the respect of employees, all while getting an MBA in their own business.

If these family "up-and-comers" can’t or won’t perform, or won't agree to sharpen their skills... then pay them if you must, but let them stay home.

Critical operational roles should never be an entitlement or inheritance!

The business can’t succeed unless critical ownership and management can demonstrate their ability to perform to norms that are at a minimum required for profit, growth, and value building. You need to clearly outline what other critical employees can expect of that family manager... thus respect, leadership, non-family employee accountability, and the opportunity to maximize planned profit and revenue growth become practical and achie

too often family business “up and comers” are unprepared with a lack of financial management or operational management training and preparation. They are also unprepared to make capital investments in equipment, plant, marketing, or key personnel because these have been ignored for years in favor of stripping the company of resources and cash in order to "turn a profit".

Often times, even if these problems have not taken place, some or all of these “up and comer” successors, will never make it in the business. Instead, their lack of skills, absence of capacity to manage and lead, and lack of earned respect from critical non-family employees dooms the enterprise to mediocrity or failure.

One of the best investments family ownership can make is to contract with experienced, performance-oriented resources to solve these problems. These resources, contractors, consultants, create implementable programs of business training in the financial management of that particular business, in operations, and sales management.

Using these types of resources, up-and-comers can learn operational roles, earn the respect of employees, all while getting an MBA in their own business.

If these family "up-and-comers" can’t or won’t perform, or won't agree to sharpen their skills... then pay them if you must, but let them stay home.

Critical operational roles should never be an entitlement or inheritance!

The business can’t succeed unless critical ownership and management can demonstrate their ability to perform to norms that are at a minimum required for profit, growth, and value building. You need to clearly outline what other critical employees can expect of that family manager... thus respect, leadership, non-family employee accountability, and the opportunity to maximize planned profit and revenue growth become practical and achi

r” successors, will never make it in the business. Instead, their lack of skills, absence of capacity to manage and lead, and lack of earned respect from critical non-family employees dooms the enterprise to mediocrity or failure.

One of the best investments family ownership can make is to contract with experienced, performance-oriented resources to solve these problems. These resources, contractors, consultants, create implementable programs of business training in the financial management of that particular business, in operations, and sales management.

Using these types of resources, up-and-comers can learn operational roles, earn the respect of employees, all while getting an MBA in their own business.

If these family "up-and-comers" can’t or won’t perform, or won't agree to sharpen their skills... then pay them if you must, but let them stay home.

Critical operational roles should never be an entitlement or inheritance!

The business can’t succeed unless critical ownership and management can demonstrate their ability to perform to norms that are at a minimum required for profit, growth, and value building. You need to clearly outline what other critical employees can expect of that family manager... thus respect, leadership, non-family employee accountability, and the opportunity to maximize planned profit and revenue growth become practical and achi

n the financial management of that particular business, in operations, and sales management.

Using these types of resources, up-and-comers can learn operational roles, earn the respect of employees, all while getting an MBA in their own business.

If these family "up-and-comers" can’t or won’t perform, or won't agree to sharpen their skills... then pay them if you must, but let them stay home.

Critical operational roles should never be an entitlement or inheritance!

The business can’t succeed unless critical ownership and management can demonstrate their ability to perform to norms that are at a minimum required for profit, growth, and value building. You need to clearly outline what other critical employees can expect of that family manager... thus respect, leadership, non-family employee accountability, and the opportunity to maximize planned profit and revenue growth become practical and achi

ement or inheritance!

The business can’t succeed unless critical ownership and management can demonstrate their ability to perform to norms that are at a minimum required for profit, growth, and value building. You need to clearly outline what other critical employees can expect of that family manager... thus respect, leadership, non-family employee accountability, and the opportunity to maximize planned profit and revenue growth become practical and achievable.