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Involving children in the family business
When should you start talking with the next generation about involvement in the family business? Don't leave it too late - some experts suggest starting as young as 13 years of age.
Some children can't help but get involved in the family business from an early age. One member of a business-owning family remembers: 'Our house was exactly opposite my family's factory. Every morning I would look out of the window and see the smoke rising from the chimneys. One day, when I was only five years old, I noticed there was no smoke. I immediately climbed on to a chair, reached the telephone, and dialled the general manager. I told him that he needed to get back to work, and quickly. He replied, "I already have to answer to your grandfather and father. It's too soon for me to answer to you as well!".'
Five years old may be a little young to take an active role in the business. But there is something to be said for talking through options for involvement before young people have made too many decisions at school and university.
A recent survey suggests that family businesses in America are not good at talking with younger people aged 13+ about involvement in the business. Most leave it until the next generation are at least 18-25 years old:
Some children can't help but get involved in the family business 
Talking to the next generation about involvement in the business
| 12 years or under | 15% |
| 13 to 17 years | 22% |
| 18 to 25 years | 39% |
| 26 years or over | 22% |
But some parents would say, 'We deliberately don't want to talk to our children until they're 18-25 because we don't want to force them into anything. It's much better for them to do whatever makes them happy. We just leave them to make their own choices.'
In fact, young people may need some experience and discussion to help them think through their choices. If the next generation never hear about possibilities of joining the family business, how they supposed to know what might be open to them?
And if the next generation never gain any experience of the family business, how can they make informed decisions about whether or not to join it?
Asha, the daughter of a business owner, says, 'My father was very clear that he would do nothing to force me into the business. But it was almost like he hid the business from me. He never talked about it; he never showed me around; he never encouraged me to link my school work with real life in the business. As a result, I chose my subjects and degree pretty much at random.
'Looking back, I think we missed an opportunity. When I was 22 he suddenly asked me whether I wanted to take a role in the company, in the finance department. I'd just spent three years studying biochemistry; it would have been helpful if he'd talked about the role beforehand! I took the finance role but it made me feel that I'd been wasting my time with all those early-morning lectures and exhausting exams in biochemistry, which is completely irrelevant to the path I'm now on.'
For information on FBN Next Generation activities:
Visit www.myng.org which is 'By Next Generation, For Next Generation'. There are details of our trainee scheme which allows young adults to gain experiences that help them decide whether to join their own family business. There are currently places in host companies in Brazil, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK.
In this issue
Yin and Yang
How siblings with opposite personalities can work together
Success factors
What helps family businesses to succeed?
Fair dividends?
The balance between dividends are reinvestment
Father-son rivalry
The story of GROHE AG