Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Why Family Business Succession Plans Fail & What to Do About It By Jeff Harris
What Do Values, Morals, and Matters of the Heart Have to Do With Successful Business Succession Planning?
Those few business families that manage the succession process successfully have knowingly or unknowingly managed to pass on their values, morals, and positive family heritage. If you talk long enough to any thriving second or third generation business family you'll find they have, to a large degree:
- Embraced their grandparents' and parents' positive heritage
- Recognized the positive threads that run through their fami! ly that has led to their personal and business success.
- Realized how they too can benefit from these family traits that they've caught over the years.
How to Successfully Preserve Your Timeless Values, True Wealth & Your Family Business
1. Recognize your family's core values
Unless you know what's important to you and your family, you can't make sound business decisions that will impact future generations.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when considering your family's core values:
When you uncover what has impacted you in the past and envision your future, you can see emerging patterns that can help guide your business succession planning process.
2. Create your family's vision ! statement and family history video
Once you've determ! ined wha t's important to your family, create your family's vision statement. This four to five-page document is specifically designed to unify and preserve your family. To successfully create your vision statement you must articulate what's most important to you.
Think of your vision statement as a guiding light for your children, grandchildren, and future generations. Help them understand their unique family heritage. Positively influence them to live fulfilling, meaningful lives.
Then create a video of the family history, where each parent and/or grandparent tells their story.
3. Hold a Family Meeting
No matter how well you articulate your family vision statement, it can't do its job if it isn't properly presented to family members. Guide your heirs to self-discover the power and value of the family vision statement by asking them a series of highly targeted questions, such as:
- If you received a check from your parents for $100,000 to! day, what would you do with it?
- How have you seen your parents demonstrate the values described in the vision statement?
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Family Business Succession Expert, Jeff Harris is dedicated to empowering families with the skills, tools and resources needed to preserve their timeless values, protect their true wealth and create treasured lives of significance for themselves and their loved ones. Take Jeff's Free Family Business Succession Quiz at http://www.familyfl.com/thequiz.h! tml to discover if your family could benefit from the Family First Process
Family Business Succession Expert, Jeff Harris is dedicated to empowering families with the skills, tools and resources needed to preserve their timeless values, protect their true wealth and create treasured lives of significance for themselves and their loved ones. Take Jeff's Free Family Business Succession Quiz at http://www.familyfl.com/thequiz.html to discover if your family could benefit from the Family First Process
Source: http://www.articlebiz.com/article/95694-1-why-family-business-succession-plans-fail-what-to-do-about-it/
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