If you think managing a family business is difficult, how about managing a family business across two, three or even more generations?
That is exactly the place where our most recent Fried On Business guest, Edouard Thijssen, found himself.
Born in Belgium, Thijssen is a next-generation member of a global family business. As he grew older and got more involved, he began to understand the increasing complexity of the enterprise.
“I think it’s about making the choice whether you want to stay together as a family or not. When you look at the statistics globally, only 10% of business families manage to stay together for more than three generations,” he said.
So he developed an online platform, Trusted Family, to help family businesses – especially when they grow to become family offices – plan ahead and manage all of the detail involved.
Trusted Family crafts a customized program based on:
– Family size.
– Business structure.
– The governing structure of the family.
The key is communication, Thijssen said. When family members start to spread out geographically, communication can start to break down, even in today’s wired and wireless world.
“In a family business, a lot of these conversations are very informal. They happen around the dinner table. If you’re studying in another city, you miss all of these conversations. It can create a lot of frustration compared to your siblings, your cousins, etc.,” he said.
“Our view has been to say that each family should develop a communications strategy and appoint someone in the family who is in charge of the communication and making sure the family stays together.”
Thijssen’s advice? First, communicate content. Create an environment where even taboo subjects can be addressed.
Then, make it happen. Schedule family meetings or conference calls. In the case of Thijssen’s family, they developed their own iPhone app to facilitate communication and record-keeping.
A critical part is developing a shared vision for the direction and goals of the family and business, he said. But it’s also important to make sure the various professionals involved – lawyers, accountants, etc. – are themselves communicating effectively.
For example, the management team for his own family office includes 20 people in New York, London and Brussels. He has also given them access to the family iPhone app.
It was an engaging discussion, and we covered a lot more topics, including:
– The differences between families that are involved with active enterprises vs. passive investments.
– The structure for foundations and other charitable giving vehicles.
Click here to listen to the full interview with Edouard Thijssen, co-founder of Trusted Family.
