The 21st Century Challenge for Business-owning Families
How does one manage a vibrant, multi-dimensional family business with family members and stakeholders scattered across the country? That’s the 21st century challenge for business-owning families, and creating a family enterprise is the first step in an effective strategy to address it.
Many successful family businesses I’ve worked with have transformed themselves over the years into family enterprises. These are families that define their collective wealth as broader than the family business, or the financial wealth, and inclusive of all that the family owns collectively. They’ve managed to organize all the families’ activities and endeavors in a thoughtful way to preserve the results of their hard work for future generations. And they have found the proper way to prioritize their strategies and allocation of their capital.
A family enterprise provides a place for all members of a family to contribute - whether it’s within the family business, preparing the next generation, or managing philanthropic endeavors. The enterprise concept allows families to understand what they collectively own, that it’s something they should be proud of, and the positive impact that they can have on the economy and the community.
This short video offers a peek inside the recently launched FOX Family Enterprise Center and the variety of resources we hope you will take advantage of as you begin the process of managing the puzzle pieces that form a vibrant family enterprise.
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If you’re interested in learning how to design a long-term plan for your family, please consider attending the FOX Global Owner Forum April 19-20, 2018 in Chicago or the FOX Family Enterprise Thinking Workshop, June 26-27, 2018 in Chicago. The workshop will give you the tools you need to implement a vision and a plan for your family’s future together. Attendees will learn about developing a framework for their own family enterprise plan, a process for outlining critical action steps, and the key questions every enterprise must consider.