Family vs. Business

As a business owner, you take on a unique challenge. Every day you are faced with both business and family decisions. And family business owners deal with this even more. Sometimes people feel that those two aspects of their lives are really at odds with each other. They absolutely can be—but they don’t have to be if you manage both of them carefully. Think about your family and business in terms of a pendulum, or a teeter-totter. Your family is on one side, and your business on the other. Every decision you make will have both business and family implications. For example, promoting one of your children as CEO, or even deciding when your children will engage with the business as either employees or shareholders, will have an effect at home and at work. Sometimes you will have to prioritize business over family, or family over business. Again, think of the teeter-totter, when you make a decision for one side, the other side will also be impacted. The key take away here is that Estate plans have to consider both – who gets voting control, who will manage the business, how will you look after your family? Balancing a teeter-totter (or a family and a business) is not easy when both sides are so intricately linked to each other. The name “teeter-totter” may suggest otherwise, but finding the equilibrium is always possible with some careful planning and accurate adjustments. The same is true for your family and your business.