Survival Guide for Business Families

Meet the JacMar family: successful, committed, and--like every other business family--trying to strike a balance between their professional and personal lives. The JacMars are a composite of actual business families. As Gerald Le Van follows them from the bedroom to the board room, he identifies the key issues and problems faced by every business family today. Le Van, a highly sought-after speaker and consultant, has helped many business families successfully navigate through times of turbulence and transition. In The Survival Guide for Business Families, he makes his secrets available to the public for the first time. He leads the reader step-by-step through thirty-nine questions that everyone involved with a family operated business must address in order to plan for the future. Designed as a self-help book, The Survival Guide for Business Families teaches families to recognize the emotional and organizational work that only they--and not their lawyers, accountants or financial advisors--can do to secure their future. It gives them the communication and coping skills to get through crises, such as a leadership transition. Le Van shows that business families are not alone in their struggle, and that they can not only survive, but prosper. Introduction The 39 Critical Questions PART ONE: THE JACMAR BUSINESS FAMILY 1 Introducing the JacMars 2 JacMar's Business Profile 3 The Family Dimension 4 Restless Successors and Unspoken Opinions 5 Generational Issues 6 The Family and the Future 7 Today and Tomorrow PART TWO: THE 39 CRITICAL QUESTIONS 8 Commitment 9 Keep or Sell 10 Who's In and Who's Out 11 Growing Up Wealthy and Healthy 12 Results Count! 13 Fathers, Sons, and Succession 14 Succession 15 Activating Your Board 16 Reconciling Outside and Inside Shareholders 17 Buying Out Family Shareholders 18 Understanding Needs 19 Family Councils and Family Decisions 20 Key Employees 21 The Community 22 Jack's Dream 23 From Questions to Answers 24 To My Successor . . . Appendix A Lawyers, Families, and Feelings Appendix B Estate Planning for the Family Business Owner Notes Suggested Reading