Should the sons or kids continue the family business? what if not?
Asked by
niki (
714
)
April 3rd, 2010
suppose if the parents (usually father) have already built & run a quite successful business. now should any of the sons (or kids) continue the family business?
But what if all the sons are not interested in continuing the business, ie: perhaps the sons/kids have different interests, or goals, or dreams/ambition each of their own, different from the father’s interest/goal?
Then, to whom or where should the family business go?
in other words, HOW to solve the case when nobody in the family want or interested in continuing the family business?
what should the father (or parents) do, if that’s the case?
is there always a way out of this “family” predicament, without hurting the family relationship?
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8 Answers
They are known as “Business Brokers” This type of situation is a part of their stock in trade.
Children shouldn’t feel obliged to continue the business, unless of course they want to. If they have other interests/careers then the business could be sold, and perhaps share the profits with the children!
Sell the business or find an interested apprentice to leave the business to. If the sons or daughters do not want to go into the family business, they shouldn’t.
@partyparty If the children did not participate or give to the family business, they should not share in its proceeds past what the parents would normally give their children for support. Sales from the business should go to the parents only.
If the kids don’t want to continue then your next best option would be to find a current employee who wants to and whom you expect to do well. If there is none available, the next option would be to find another person or company willing to buy the business.
An alternative to either of these choices is to simply shut down the business if you dislike the thought of seeing it in a stranger’s hands.
Presumably the business founder / owner didn’t die unexpectedly during the course of a business day, not even being aware that his children (and not necessarily just ‘sons’—I hear women are also capable of running businesses these days). If his kids are already adults (or well on their way), then this should already be obvious. In that case, there’s no sense in anyone “inheriting” a business that’s unwanted, but it can be sold outright, or over time. There are all kinds of ways to handle this.
But if it’s a successful business and none of the offspring want it, then what a cruel prison it would make to inherit and feel an obligation to take on.
@rahm_sahriv But why not share some of the cash, the children will inherit in the long term when the parents die.
Why not give some of their wealth to their offsprings while they are alive. Then the parents will be able to spread some happiness while they are alive. What do you think?
If the children have their own ambitions , then Select a person to be as a patner of the business… let the patner handle the business issues and the profit be shared…
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