Build an Enterprise Family to Last
Proven Strategies to Thrive Across Generations
Enterprise Families share the ownership and stewardship of collective family assets, and they face challenges sustaining the family and keeping the Enterprise aligned in the face of growing complexity and diversity.
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Co-authors Hamilton and Cox have assembled this practical guide that offers 48 actionable steps to ensure that family members and the Enterprise flourish into future generations. The guidebook is organized into three parts: the Family Journey, the Enterprise Journey and the Personal Journey. Each section is framed around where we’ve been and where we are now, where we want to go, and how we plan to get there, and offers time-tested strategies and tools. Hamilton and Cox have consulted with hundreds of sophisticated families around the world who have contributed to this seminal guide for building an enduring Enterprise Family. |
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The guidebook addresses consequential questions, including:
- Does the family want to continue to invest in their future together?
- What identity and impact does the family want to have?
- How will the family train and select future leaders?
- Does the family want to continue to invest in their future together?
- What identity and impact does the family want to have?
- How will the family train and select future leaders?
- What are the shared long-term Enterprise vision and goals to achieve it?
- How will the governance process ensure equitable decision-making?
- How will performance goals for the Enterprise be measured?
- What are the shared long-term Enterprise vision and goals to achieve it?
- How will the governance process ensure equitable decision-making?
- How will performance goals for the Enterprise be measured?
- How has my personal history shaped the belief systems that inform my actions?
- What roles do I want to pursue in the family and the Enterprise?
- What experience, training and support do I need to prepare for those roles?
- How has my personal history shaped the belief systems that inform my actions?
- What roles do I want to pursue in the family and the Enterprise?
- What experience, training and support do I need to prepare for those roles?
Endorsements
"It is the great privilege and honor for the James E. Hughes, Jr. Foundation to publish this wonderful book by Sara and Margaret, “Build an Enterprise Family to Last.” I applaud their purpose which is to create a book which, in their words, ‘is designed for use by family members and their advisors wanting a structured roadmap with clear milestones that allow the Family and the Enterprise to sustain, adapt and thrive across multiple generations as diversity and complexity grow.’ Their book achieves brilliantly this very high purpose."
James (Jay) E. Hughes, Jr.
Author of Family Wealth: Keeping it in the Family, Family: The Compact Among Generations and co-author of The Cycle of the Gift and Family Trusts
"This book is a welcomed – and particularly valuable – addition to the very best sources of information available to families of wealth who seek to create an enduring family enterprise across generations, and for their advisors who aspire to be a part of that successful journey. From cover to cover it is a depth of wisdom and practical guides to understanding, assessment and action. Each chapter and topic are presented in a fresh, creative and useable format that can lead from insight to action on a seamless basis. Both authors are highly respected experts in the topics they address, and their accumulated experience and insights are fully reflected in these pages. This is not only a ‘must read’, but also a ‘must learn and apply’ for those seeking to create the best future possible for their own families."
Mark Daniell
Founder of Raffles Learning and Co-author of Second Edition of Family Legacy and Leadership, ©2025, Singapore
"Build an Enterprise Family to Last has a wealth of information displayed in a highly engaging, digestible manner. Its wisdom, distilled from decades of experience and expertise, helps families understand the many journeys they have to navigate successfully. Combining clearly written text with excellent graphics, the book makes the complex process of evolving a family enterprise a remarkably approachable topic. I am truly impressed with what Sara Hamilton and Margaret Vaughan Cox have accomplished."
Jim Grubman, PhD
Family Wealth Consulting, Boston
"Build an Enterprise Family to Last offers a deep dive into the complexities of managing and sustaining family enterprises across generations. With profound insights and practical strategies, Sara and Margaret guide readers through the intricate journey of sustaining family values and vision across generations. This book is an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with leading an enterprise family. Sara and Margaret combine wisdom with actionable advice, making this a must-read for both current and future enterprise family leaders committed to the long-term success of their family legacy. "
Dr. Maarten de Groot
Professor and Endowed Chair of Resilient Family Business and Enterprise Families at Vrije Universiteit School of Business and Economics, Amsterdam
"Family enterprises are among the most complex forms of organization, requiring the navigation of interdependent dynamics across family, assets, and personal realms. Capturing and articulating this complexity with such clarity is a gift, and Sara and Margaret have done that remarkably. The book provides valuable insights through both conceptual framing and practical examples, making it a resource to treasure. I especially appreciate how managing a family enterprise is framed as a continuous journey. By setting realistic expectations, the book underscores that multigenerational families are 'never done' managing this complexity. Yet, far from daunting, it offers a hopeful and helpful framework built on the integration of family, enterprise, and personal elements. This holistic approach captures the mutual dependencies of these dimensions, ensuring that the individual and family journeys are given as much attention as the enterprise itself. In particular, the emphasis on personal growth, often the most overlooked yet critical component, makes this framework especially powerful and practical for sustaining long-term success."
Gaia Marchisio
Professor and Endowed Chair of Resilient Family Faculty Director of Columbia Business School Global Family Enterprise Program, and Sr Lecturer in Management Division, New York
"Build an Enterprise Family to Last is a major contribution to families wanting to thrive on their multigenerational journey together. This accessible guidebook provides a clear roadmap for successfully navigating this complex journey, complete with definitions, helpful examples and case studies. It distinguishes the Family Journey from the Enterprise Journey, and helps an individual define their Personal Journey and future role in the enterprise. Everyone leading a complex enterprise should spend time with this book and apply the wisdom and principles compiled over Hamilton’s and Cox’s decades partnering with client families around the world."
Peter Vogel
Professor and Director of the Global Family Business Center at IMD and author of the Family Office Navigator, Lausanne
About the Authors
Sara is one of the first professionals to recognize family offices as the most sophisticated segment of wealth management, and she has been described as “the Warren Buffet of the family office industry”. When hundreds of U.S. families became centi-millionaires through leveraged buyouts in the 1980s and 1990s, private family offices were created to manage family capital and to educate wealth owners.
Sara founded the Family Office Exchange (FOX) as a peer network for family office executives in 1989. Within 10 years, she could see that families needed help with family governance and managing financial transitions, in addition to their family offices. As a result, FOX evolved into an advisor to family enterprises, a platform for sharing family wealth best practices, and an industry advocate for the importance of private enterprise in a global economy.
Today, Sara provides input to the strategic direction for FOX and supports the development of new programs and services for family enterprises and wealth advisory firms in 25 countries. Sara is the co-author of Family Legacy and Leadership: Preserving True Family Wealth in Challenging Times. She serves on the executive education faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business where she is an adjunct faculty member for their Private Wealth Management and Essentials of Wealth courses in the Executive Education program. She is on the founding board for the Foundation Advancing Impact and Sustainability in Bologna and the founding board for the Private Directors Association in Chicago.
Sara is one of the first professionals to recognize family offices as the most sophisticated segment of wealth management, and she has been described as “the Warren Buffet of the family office industry”. When hundreds of U.S. families became centi-millionaires through leveraged buyouts in the 1980s and 1990s, private family offices were created to manage family capital and to educate wealth owners.
Sara founded the Family Office Exchange (FOX) as a peer network for family office executives in 1989. Within 10 years, she could see that families needed help with family governance and managing financial transitions, in addition to their family offices. As a result, FOX evolved into an advisor to family enterprises, a platform for sharing family wealth best practices, and an industry advocate for the importance of private enterprise in a global economy.
Today, Sara provides input to the strategic direction for FOX and supports the development of new programs and services for family enterprises and wealth advisory firms in 25 countries. Sara is the co-author of Family Legacy and Leadership: Preserving True Family Wealth in Challenging Times. She serves on the executive education faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business where she is an adjunct faculty member for their Private Wealth Management and Essentials of Wealth courses in the Executive Education program. She is on the founding board for the Foundation Advancing Impact and Sustainability in Bologna and the founding board for the Private Directors Association in Chicago.
Margaret Vaughan Cox is president of MCV Consulting, a consultancy dedicated to helping families and their enterprises thrive across generations. She is sought out by sophisticated and high-profile wealth owners to help them thoughtfully plan for and navigate complex generational transitions. Margaret works with families to establish shared vision and goals for their enterprise, create and evolve effective governance and decision-making structures, develop and implement succession plans, and nurture the valuable capital that enriches the family beyond their financial assets. She builds enduring relationships with her clients, often serving as a trusted advisor to multiple generations within the same family over the course of many years.
Margaret is routinely referred to families and family office executives by wealth advisors, estate planning attorneys, and other key advisors who recognize there are important conversations and alignments the family must achieve before efforts on other fronts will be successful. With over 25 years of experience in her field, Margaret’s work has taken her throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, South Africa, and the Middle East.
An avid civic volunteer, Margaret currently serves on the Houston Ballet board of trustees, the Houston Advanced Research Center for Sustainability Science board of directors, the Menil Collection Council, and the advisory council of Yes Prep Public Schools. She is a member of the Collaboration for Family Flourishing, the International Women’s Forum, and is director emeritus of The Texas Lyceum, a select group of 96 leaders from across the state of Texas.
Margaret Vaughan Cox is president of MCV Consulting, a consultancy dedicated to helping families and their enterprises thrive across generations. She is sought out by sophisticated and high-profile wealth owners to help them thoughtfully plan for and navigate complex generational transitions. Margaret works with families to establish shared vision and goals for their enterprise, create and evolve effective governance and decision-making structures, develop and implement succession plans, and nurture the valuable capital that enriches the family beyond their financial assets. She builds enduring relationships with her clients, often serving as a trusted advisor to multiple generations within the same family over the course of many years.
Margaret is routinely referred to families and family office executives by wealth advisors, estate planning attorneys, and other key advisors who recognize there are important conversations and alignments the family must achieve before efforts on other fronts will be successful. With over 25 years of experience in her field, Margaret’s work has taken her throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, South Africa, and the Middle East.
An avid civic volunteer, Margaret currently serves on the Houston Ballet board of trustees, the Houston Advanced Research Center for Sustainability Science board of directors, the Menil Collection Council, and the advisory council of Yes Prep Public Schools. She is a member of the Collaboration for Family Flourishing, the International Women’s Forum, and is director emeritus of The Texas Lyceum, a select group of 96 leaders from across the state of Texas.