Monday, September 13, 2010

The Family Business

I have had a few years of experience under my belt, dealing with all sorts of businesses, and I would say that one of the most challenging is often the family run business. You know, the company that grampa started, and now has been passed down to dad, who has his two kids also working in the business? The difficulty with this sort of business, is that it has this extra layer or nuance, easily recognizable at the dinner table during the holidays. Sometimes, mixing family and business can work, and sometimes it creates so many undercurrents in everyones' lives and creates so much stress, that it never really becomes what it could be. If you are involved in a family run business, I would highly recommend a book by Tom Deans called "Every Family's Business". It is an interesting and eye-opening read. CAFE (The Canadian Association of Family Enterprise) is lucky enough to have him coming back to Barrie to talk about family businesses and succession planning. Burgar Rowe is proud to be one of the sponsors of this event, being held at the Barrie Country Club on October
18th from 7 - 9pm. If you are interested in attending, call Joan at (705)726-6331.