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Despite a lack of economic optimism for 2025, business owners are forging ahead with big plans and hope that their businesses continue to thrive for the next 100 years. With a look toward the future, this benchmark report provides an inside view of how a wide range of business owners and entrepreneurs are navigating dynamic economic and technological landscapes.

While business continuity planning and good crisis management are important, organizational resilience encompasses much more. An integrated approach to resilience provides organizations a competitive advantage over less-prepared peers, as well as the ability to adapt to constantly changing external circumstances. Organizations would be well-served to adopt a structured, disciplined resilience approach that accounts for situations in which multiple risk events interact.

Since the disruption of COVID-19, organizations have had to navigate soaring inflation, a rapid increase in interest rates, and escalating global tensions that have destabilized supply chains. All around, there has been enormous pressure on organizations to adapt and move from one crisis to the next. It’s no longer an option to simply take shelter and wait for the storm to pass and rely on traditional approaches to risk management. Against this backdrop, companies have started to adapt an ‘antifragile’ approach to risk, one that seeks to find opportunities in crisis.

By exploring the essence of legacy and its impact on business performance, this report brings together the detailed analysis, academic insights, and the firsthand experiences of family business CEOS to contribute to a deeper understanding of the importance of balancing tradition and innovation for long-term success in family businesses. From this report, you can learn more about the steps you and your family can take to uncover the strengths of your legacy.

The concept of transferring ownership of a private business to a purpose trust was first popularized when the Patagonia transaction was announced—instead of “going public,” they were “going purpose” to allow the owner to monetize his stake in the business while at the same time ensure that the values of the business are preserved for future generations. This guidebook by Northern Trust offers insights for business owners who may be interested in exploring a purpose trust transaction structure for their own business.

Today, digital customer experiences are table stakes. Yet, digital transformation is widely misunderstood by business leaders as being primarily focused on digitizing existing processes, moving to the cloud, or enabling scalability of the business. While this was true historically, today digital transformation requires fundamentally changing the direction of your company for future growth.

Effective tax and wealth planning can be a challenge, especially when there is a possible recession, elevated inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical strife. With this guide, you have the planning information and resources to help you make the right moves to plan for your family’s future and manage your wealth. In addition to insights on a myriad of tax issues and policies, this guide also covers topics related to setting up and maintaining a family office, charitable giving, crossing U.S.

The number and scope of women-owned businesses have risen at an unprecedented rate. In an era of new opportunities, this paper profiles eight courageous and resilient women who share their personal stories and the lessons they learned building successful businesses. One theme that emerged from these women’s stories was the critical role of mentorship; another key factor was access to capital.