Table of Contents for "Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business:  Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins That Destroy Family Businesses"

Chapter 1: Why You Need to Read This Book

Part III illustrates the emotional issues that confront family businesses as they undergo succession and presents solutions to help overcome the problems created by these issues. In addition, it is integrated with the key themes of this book – family systems, business systems and family baggage. This approach differs from all other family business books – books that focus exclusively on tax and accounting aspects of succession.

This chapter provides a series of recommendations for ensuring success during succession. It begins by presenting key guidelines that the family needs to follow to ensure success, continues by presenting a series of business practices from companies that undergo successful succession, and presents a unique set of criteria that family businesses should use when deciding who will take over the family's business. In addition, this chapter provides advice to help business owners overcome their tendency to not properly develop successors, outlines steps that should be used to help the next generation of successors enter the family's business, and concludes with advice on how to help parents overcome their tendency to not relinquish control.