4 Ways Family Businesses Can Thrive Through Multiple Generations
While public corporations attract more media attention, family businesses also make a major impact on the U.S. and world economies.
Family firms comprise more than half of all U.S. companies and generate at least 50 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, according to the Harvard Business School. And two-thirds of businesses around the world are family-owned, The Family Firm Institute reports.
The flip side: About 70 percent of family-owned businesses in the U.S. and worldwide fail, or are sold, before the second generation can assume ownership. And only 10-15 percent make it to generation three.
“Family business that do survive are the ones willing to keep an eye on new horizons,” says Raméz Baassiri, author of Interrupted Entrepreneurship: Embracing Change in the Family Business (www.ramezbaassiri.com).
Baassiri, who helps run a multi-generational, multi-national family business, says being open to change and innovation is one key to keeping a business relevant and successful throughout generations.
“Just because a business model or product has worked in the past doesn’t mean it will continue to do so,” Baassiri says. “Stagnancy or struggle provide an opportunity to negotiate a different path. Family businesses need to confront market realities and consider disruptive new things in order to move forward.”
Baassiri provides four ways family businesses can survive and grow from generation to generation:
“When a family business grows,” Baassiri says, “it is because the family members aren’t looking at it as a cow to milk, but as a whole farm that they can work together.”
About Raméz Baassiri
Raméz Baassiri, author of Interrupted Entrepreneurship: Embracing Change in the Family Business (www.ramezbaassiri.com), is a board member of a multinational, multigenerational family business. Raméz is a firm believer in education through storytelling—a concept that can, and does, change the world for the better.
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Dear Republican Friend,
The race for the Fourth Congressional District is a tight one. Every vote is going to count. I’ve heard many say, “Why vote?” Mitt is going to win easily. There is no presidential or gubernatorial race. But we need every registered Republican voting because your voice makes a difference in more competitive races. And, if I were a constituent in the Fourth District, let me tell you why I would vote to re-elect Congresswoman Mia Love. Beyond many issues and values we have in common, she possesses a fighter’s tenacity that benefits Utah immensely.
For several years, I’ve been honored to work with Mia on a variety of vital issues from combatting human trafficking, protecting women and children crime victims, dealing with the opioid crisis and deploying resources like the SafeUT app to reduce suicide rates and prevent threats to our schools and kids. I have seen firsthand her passion and how it benefits her constituents. When others have given up on difficult or almost impossible situations, Mia has refused to back down. For example, her persistence over years finally helped liberate Utah’s own Josh Holt from a prison in Venezuela.
Another example of her fighting spirit I saw firsthand in Haiti. In 2017, I accompanied Tim Ballard, the CEO of Utah-based Operation Underground Railroad, as we led a covert takedown in Port-au-Prince against some of the most nefarious child sex traffickers in the country. After infiltrating their network, we helped set up their arrest. But, just months later they were released by corrupt judges accepting bribes. Tim and I were devastated but Mia came to the rescue.
Mia understood the nexus between global trafficking and what transpires in the States. While some other members of Congress might have “researched” it more or had a staffer prepare a memo, she actually put her life on the line. Mia flew down with Tim Ballard to Haiti, held a press conference at great risk to her own safety to decry the corruption, and sat down with the Haitian President to request his urgent action. Because of their joint efforts, the traffickers and corrupt judges were brought to justice and Haiti and America are both safer now.
I am confident that Mia will continue to bring that fighting spirit to Washington. She will fight for localized education. She will fight for lower taxes, less government intrusion and reining in the national debt. But most importantly, she will fight for us as Utahns. This is the leadership Mia Love brings, and the leadership Utah deserves.
Please support Mia and other Republican candidates by making sure to vote.
With respect and gratitude,
Sean D. Reyes
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