Issues & trends

Question:
I'm 55 years old and it's clear to me that my children aren't interested in joining the business. What are the alternatives open to me?
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Question:
My sons work with me in the business and it's clear to me that the younger one is the successor. How on earth can I bring myself to tell them?
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Question:
I am a 19-year-old university student, my parents are second-generation operators of a reasonable sized family Business and I have two older siblings who also work full-time in the business. I am constantly being pressured by my family to provide a commitment to working in the business after I complete my studies. However, there does not appear to be any clear or defined career development process for any of the employees in the business. How critical is a career development process to the success of a family Business?
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Question:
I am a director/shareholder in a second-generation family Business. The ownership of the business is spread across the extended family and includes some shareholders who work within the business and some from outside.

One of the constant tensions amongst the shareholders is the expectation for dividends from those outside the business and the demands to manage funds prudently placed on those within the business.
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Question:
We have a very large family Business which turns over in excess of $300M. My father is within 5 years of retirement and has employed a non-family Chief Executive Officer to take over the leadership once he decides upon a date for retirement. There are a number of potential successors in the family and several family problems have started to spill over into the business. How would you approach planning the succession and dealing with the specific family issues?
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Question:
I am in my early thirties and I have been invited to join our family Business with the view to succeeding my father as General Manager in the next 12 months. I have a business degree and I have worked in a number of management positions over the last five years. My principal concern is that we do not have a Board of Directors but we have substituted a Manager’s meeting which are the Senior Managers hearing what my father has to say abut the performance of the business. Could you explain to me the benefits of having a Board of Directors including some external non-executive directors?
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Question:
My parents and uncles run a third generation family Business, which is quite large and complex. The issue of Succession is being discussed and as I believe I will eventually become a shareholder in this business, can you please explain to me what is the benefit of having a Shareholder's Agreement in place?
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Question:
I am interested in entering the family Business. I have spoken with my parents who are the owners. Both have active roles in the business. They have identified concerns including employee rivalry (for non-family employees), work life balance issues (as I am about to be married and will one day start a family) and surprisingly, they do not see me as a successor. I am tertiary qualified in engineering and I have worked outside the family Business for 5 years. How would you proceed?
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