Family Business

The Family Business Program was founded over three decades ago by a handful of New Hampshire family businesses and their close advisors. The concept followed ones in other states; create an open learning format for topics discussion, idea generation and guidance for family businesses with an alignment with a higher ed institution. Although the spectrum of types and sizes of family businesses is a wide and varied one, inevitably there are commonalities in the things that they will all face during the business, and family, life cycle.  

SUBSTANCE

Members of the program will come to face many truths and realities of a family business. Whatever they are grappling with or reaching to solve has already been faced by many, many others. This is the place where they can walk in every month and know that others around them have overcome issues and are willing to share their own experiences. The secret ingredient is that commonality.  

EXPERTISE

Topics taken on during the programs are determined by the members. Through regular surveys and an annual brainstorming session, family business members share what they would like to take on in the coming year.  It’s the Center’s job to set the stage for these intimate, interactive and thought-provoking sessions.  

Our  presenters are there for one reason only; to open their minds around particular issues and present strategies and tactics that very well may apply to them.  We ask our presenters to (1) leave our members with key takeaways and (2) lead them not to ‘pat’ solutions, but instead with the questions family businesses need to ask themselves and others towards resolutions.   Learning how to navigate the potential pitfalls and to instead create a business with alignment among the members is always at the front of the Center’s programs.  

CELEBRATION

It’s not all heavy!  As the Center for Family Business, there is nowhere else that better recognizes and celebrates the ‘family advantage” aspect.  Only in a family business do key members inherently know what the other is thinking, the trust factor is deep and real.  

Every family has a story and every business has a story. Combining those stories is powerful. However, the true power of a family business isn’t what they tell about themselves; it’s what others say about the business.  

Family businesses are the lifeblood of the economy and the community. Studies show that the workforce for family businesses has more staying power, which leads to greater stability and certainty for the business. 

Family businesses care deeply from their very heart of the business, and that’s spreads out over all aspects of what they do, including how they treat their customers. It’s palpable. It really comes down to this; in family businesses the legacy matters to every generation during their ‘turn’ at the helm.