Why the Best Family Businesses Plan

Families are about caring and businesses are about money — not a likely formula for a successful partnership. Unfortunately those are the facts and family enterprises around the world have found that planning for these two often-conflicting systems is the key to family harmony and business success. The new Parallel Planning Process is an improved version of a proven tool for aligning the family and business systems' thinking and planning into a comprehensive family enterprise plan. This parallel planning model facilitates communication about the business' potential which is supported by family's investment of its human and financial capital. The article discusses how successful business families develop plans and actions to ensure owner and leadership transitions that promote family harmony and sustain business performance