Back in the day, the notion of the family business was a part of our cultural vernacular. But a report in The Economist found that while the number of family-controlled businesses is still growing globally, it is diminishing in this country.
The reasons for that are varied. But one certainty is that for leaders of family-held businesses choosing how to leave the business is a tough decision. Reporter Olivia Barrow writes about the tricky business of succession planning in the cover story of the latest Milwaukee Business Journal.
When leaders of a family-owned business consider selling, it can be a contentious issue. "A lot of the family wealth is usually tied up in the business, so making decisions about what happens in the next generation of that business has huge implications on an entire family’s future and not just the business itself," Barrow says.
