A well thought out business plan should include a detailed exit strategy, whether it be passing it on to the next generation, management buy-out or selling the business.

Click here to read article detailing 5 critical factors that affect business exit strategy timelines

http://www.inc.com/david-mahmood/5-critical-factors-that-affect-business-exit-strategy-timelines.html 

Planning to start a business with your family? 6 important questions to ask yourself first

1.  Is this the right time?

2.  What role does each partner play in our family?

3.  What is each person's risk tolerance?

4.  You love your family, but do you LIKE and RESPECT your family?

5.  Does everyone have the same goal?

6.  What is my breaking point?

To read more follow this link http://www.inc.com/kathryn-finney/six-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-starting-a-business-with-your-family.html

DCU Centre for Family Business are holding the second event in their Legacy Series on Thursday 25th September in Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dublin.

The theme for this workshop is "The Family Business: moving from mine, to ours, to theirs".

This workshop is open to Family Businesses.

Follow the link for more information http://www.dcu.ie/centre-for-family-business/news/family_business_workshop_september_2014.shtml

7 Reasons Why You Should Make A Will

1. You decide who will receive the benefits from your estate and not the Law

2. If you are unmarried but have a partner your partner may receive nothing unless you make a will

3. If you are divorced, you can decide to leave something to your former partner

4. You can make the best use of allowances to reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax to be paid

5. If you have children, you can nominate who you choose to care for them

6. If you have no surviving relatives, everything could automatically pass to the State

7. You can decide to leave a donation to charity

Arguably everyone over the age of 18 should make a will, but certainly when you have a partner and children become involved, it is absolutely vital.

Kindly submitted by Neil Butler of NEIL J BUTLER & CO SOLICITORS, Friars St. Thurles

Call Neil or Siobhan on 0504-24173 to find out more or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

http://www.njbutler.ie 

An interesting article from The Guardian in 2013 on the key causes of serious disagreements between family business owners 

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/sep/02/ownership-dispute-family-business

Top 10 Tips for Employing Family Members

A recent article featured in DCU Centre for Family Business newsletter outlines some guidelines for employing family members.

There is a tendancy for the Family Business to be regarded as a 'job for life' employer of family members regardless of their capabilities. This attitude ignores the requirements of the business and the needs of the individual.

DCU Centre For Family Business July 2014 Newsletter

A 2013 EY survey in collaboration with Family Business Network International (FBN-I) main aim was to gain an insight in to how family business have continued to perform and weather the storm of the economic dowturn over the past few years.

"Do the right things and the figures will follow" - was the central message from this survey.

Some key findings

Family owned and run businesses focus on their customers and core competencies to enable them to improve the quality of their products/services and hence maintain their competitiveness.

Attracting and retaining the best talent is a top priority for family businesses.  Although it does remain a challenge to get the balance of experienced managers who also understand the family's goals and objectives.

Good governance is also essential for the establishment of trust and reliability.    Each process of succession should be started early and clearly communicated throughout.

(Ref: http://familybusiness.ey-vx.com/thought-leadership/)

 A Successful Irish Family Business - The JellyBean Factory

An interesting read on the father & son team - Peter and Richard Cullen of The Jellybean Factory

http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Services/Strategic-Growth-Markets/ey-exceptional-extras-march-2014---the-jelly-bean-factory

Challenges for Family Businesses

1.  Family Feuding

Family businesses are often face with internal conflict that typically arises from the inability to separate business and personal lives.  If the issues continue to be unresolved it will be impossible to define and achieve common goals for the business.

2.  Nepotism

Hiring, promoting and paying someone based on a familial relationship rather than on their qualifications and ability to do the job is a recipe for disaster.

You will find that non-family membes will be demotivated and lose their desire to work for your business.  Family members can become complacent because more often than not they will not face consequences for non-performance.

Ultimately, nepotsim does not empower your employees.

3. Letting Emotions Run the Business

Separating your emotions from the business is never easy especially if it involves managing a family member.  Be aware that if you let emotions interfere with your business, it can make you appear weak to your employees and customers, and can affect your ability to make sound business decisions. On the other hand, if you are insensitive you may appear cold and unapproachable.  You will need to get the right balance of emotion needed based on the dynamics of your business environment.

4.  Losing Non-Family Employees

Most employees want to advance within a company.  Unfortunately, in most family businesses there are often limited opportunity to get promoted because family employees can hold most leadership positions within the company.  Without this opportunity to take on a management role, many talented and ambitions employees will move on.

It is important to understand that every business needs a good mix of people to help the business grow and what non-family employees do are add balance to the company as they can view the business from an unemotional position.

5.  No Succession Plan

There will come a time in every business when someone retires, leaves or passes away.  It is so important to have a plan in place for these eventualities .

(ref:   http://familybusiness.about.com/ )

Some essentials for getting the right balance in a Family Business

1.  Set some boundaries

Its all too easy for family members involved in the business to talk shop 24/7 - limit discussions regarding the business outside of the office. Although easier said than done, its not always possible - but at least save it for an appropriate time.

2.  Establish regular methods of communicating

Look at setting weekly meetings to assess company progress, resolve issues etc

3.  Assign roles and responsibilities

While a number of members of the family may have the necessary qualifications for tasks/duties - assigning responsibility for each one will avoid unnecessary conflicts arising. Big decisions can be made together, but avoid long debate/discussion over the minor issues .

4.  'It's a business afterall"

One of pitfalls of family business is putting the emphasis on the "family" and not the "business".  A healthy business may not always be compatible with family harmony, so be prepared to deal with these issues.

5.  Acknowledge the advantages of the family business

One of the key advantages to family businesses is the access to human capital in the form of other family members.  This can be a huge advantage when it comes to survival as family members can provide low/no cost labour, or an emergency injection of cash/funding.

6. Family Members should be treated fairly

Qualified family members can be a great asset to a business. But pay, promotions, work schedules etc should be evenhanded between family and non-family employees. 

7.  Seek outside advice

The decision making process in a family business can sometimes be too closed.  Seeking advice and guidance from external advisors can be a great way to give the business a reality check

8.  Develop a succession plan

It is inevitable that any family busines without a succession plan is going to run in to difficulty.  A succession plan should state how and when the business will be passed on to the next generation.  It needs to be a financially sound plan for the business going forward as well as for the retiring family members.  External professional advice is essential as you will need both legal and financial guidance.

Ref: http://www.startupnation.com