Forecasting what's going to happen in our dynamic small and family business economy is not for the faint of heart. But some organizations are intrepid enough to make the leap, and there are things we may glean from their reports. See why reviewing leading economic indicators is important for you and your business here.

As 2011 came to a close and 2012 got off to a start, there was a great deal of optimism among family business owners and operators that The Great Recession was finally over. There was some slightly encouraging news from the housing industry that we had hit the bottom and were beginning to rebound a bit. As for The Family Business Institute, one of our internal barometers looked encouraging; the number and frequency of family businesses contacting us shot upward to a rate not seen since 2008. At speeches and conventions, we were hearing tales of modest improvements all around the country. In short, many family business leaders were breathing sighs of relief and dreaming of a return to the good old days.

Not so fast, Brothers and Sisters! Recent data from The Conference Board, Tatum CFO, and The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) indicate that, while the economy is no longer in recession, the recovery is fragile and is historically weak when compared to previous recoveries.

Why are family businesses pulling in their horns and managing conservatively once again? What happened to the optimism of Q4 2011 and Q1 2012? There are two primary reasons:

1. Family business owners are very concerned about the weak recovery slipping back into recession. Most family firms have cut, cut, and cut some more until they feel they have not only cut the fat out of their companies but have also had to cut flesh as well. Many have had the heartbreaking task of letting trusted and valued employees - friends - go for the sake of the business' health. If things turn down again, as they have in England and Western Europe, they can't imagine where they'd make their next round of cost reduction, and worse, they wonder if it's worthwhile to even stay in business when it's simply not fun anymore.

2. Family business leaders are terrified of what our politicians are doing to our country and business climate at the public policy level. It's hard to tell intelligent, perceptive business people who have dramatically pared back the size and scope of their companies and personal lifestyles that federal, state, and local governments cannot set priorities and cut budgets but instead must continue to grow without any real world constraints whatsoever. They see what fostering cradle to grave entitlement mentalities has done to the domestic workforce, and they see in Western Europe the disastrous results of the Nanny State gone wild. Most family business leaders believe in self-reliance and individual accountability, and know in their hearts that spending, regulating, threatening to tax, and creating ever more dependence on government is no way to rebuild our economy. Perhaps many are waiting to see the results of the fall election before getting too set with their future plans.

Family businesses are nothing if not courageous and resilient. But, in spite of their pluck, they are not immune to the slow growth, hypercompetitive nature of macro economy. The forecast for the balance of 2012 is a "New Normal" way of thinking about managing the people and resources in your family business. When there's better news, we'll be thrilled to pass it along.

The Family Business Institute is a professional consulting firm dedicated to serving the needs of the family and closely held business market. For more information, visit our website or contact us by calling (888) 438-1948.

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Tough economic times don’t have to mean the end of your closely held company. In fact, a bit of business savvy can help make your family business more profitable than ever before. Family Business Institute president Wayne Rivers offers helpful tips for family business owners.

In this video, Wayne Rivers offers tips on identifying potential cash flows. These funding resources will help your business stay alive in the present and thrive in the future. Rivers suggests that family businesses reduce marketing costs with cost-effective advertising. Also, family companies are directed to get professional consulting help when they need a fresh perspective.

Family Business Institute can help your family business become stronger and more secure. Our management training makes it easy to invest in the future of your company. Contact us at (888) 438-1948 to learn more.

http://www.youtube.com/v/QwQ-dPnLvr0?hl=en&fs=1

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By Wayne Rivers

A few weeks ago my wife sent me a troubling text. It read, "I have some bad news. Call me right away." I assumed the bad news was something innocuous like a bounced check or fleas on our dogs. When I called, she was in tears. Her cousin Mike, age 42 and an enterprising young businessman, had died in his sleep. Mike had a history of heart issues, but there was no noticeable warning; he simply didn’t wake up. Mike left behind a grieving widow, three young children, and a small husband/wife family business.

Mike's death has had a strange effect on my thinking. At first, I must admit I was relieved that the family tragedy was a bit removed. When I heard my wife crying into the phone, I was terrified that something had happened to one of our children or our aging parents. I was thankful that the bad news wasn't even worse. But, as time has gone on, I think about Mike almost every day, and I see and feel more of the tragedy of this young man's passing. His oldest child is 10 years old. One wonders what memories of his father the youngster will retain. And what about the younger kids; they will probably have even fuzzier memories of their dad. Their retail business, still reeling from the lingering effects of The Great Recession, is left in the hands of Mike's wife. They had divided the duties so that Wendy was the creative, marketing, and merchandising genius while Mike handled all the financial and administrative duties. Now Wendy finds all of the business responsibilities on her shoulders, and she must chart a new future direction without her life and business partner.

Mike's passing also started me thinking about family businesses in general. He didn't have the time or luxury to think about his legacy; he was only 42 years old and he was working too hard. But, for our family business readers around the world who are 62 and 72 years of age, how important is it to think about what exactly your legacy will be?

Or, looking at the other side of the family business coin, would they remember a demanding boss so overwhelmed by hundreds of daily details that she barely had time to eat? Would they lament a workaholic who expected everyone else to work superhuman hours too? Would they retain frustrated memories of a manager rather than a leader – someone who could only think of the next day or the next week and not five or 10 years down the road? Would they harbor resentment over someone who didn't have time to strategically plan for management succession and consequently left behind no one who knew what to do without his daily direction and supervision? Would they be dismayed by the recollection of someone who didn't have the time or inclination to plan for ownership succession and who left the family with vexing, potentially divisive decisions about how family assets and company shares should be divided? Or would they remember a pessimist who always saw the glass as half empty and their performance as somehow lacking?

Life is fragile and uncertain. Accidents and tragedies are real, and it isn’t always "the other guy." We don't know when our names and be called. Don't we owe it to our families, our employees, our customers, and our communities to be good stewards and to devote time, attention, energy and money to planning for the day when our efforts must cease? I bet Mike would say we do.

And the reality is we can choose to be the masters of our own time and the architects of our own destiny. Leaving the tasks and strategies of succession to chance or dumping them into the hands of others is planning to fail via failing to plan. And how might that stain an otherwise successful entrepreneur’s legacy?

Wayne Rivers is the president of The Family Business Institute, Inc. FBI’s mission is to deliver interpersonal, operational and financial solutions to help family and closely-held businesses achieve breakthrough success.
^{May 2012}

Running a successful family business can be challenging for even the most savvy businessmen. Managing a company becomes even more difficult when relationships between loved ones come into play. When you need help, call upon consultant Wayne Rivers. He offers  proven solutions to family business problems:

Personal Experience

Wayne Rivers knows the stress that comes with running a family business. The Family Business Institute began as a joint venture with his father-in-law. Thanks to perseverance and effective management, the business now flourishes as a national resource for closely held businesses. Business owners can connect with Rivers, because he knows their struggles first-hand.

National Credentials

Wayne Rivers is more than an experienced family business owner—he is also a highly successful author on topics pertinent to family-run enterprises. His three books, Prescriptions for a Healthy Family Business, You Don’t Have to Die to Win, and The Top Nine Reasons Family Businesses Failhave already helped numerous family businesses nationwide. Family Business Institute.

Signature Solutions

Rivers’ original methods offer solutions to your family business problems that can’t be found anywhere else. The GAMEPLAN™ approach is a family planning strategy with proven results. This business outline offers clear direction to businesses during every step of the start-up process. Rivers also offers the unique Performance Roundtable. This educational program helps business owners to delegate more effectively, enhance workplace cohesion, and improve their own quality of life.

Contact Family Business Institute if your closely held company is getting off the ground, struggling, or just looking for some direction. Visit our website or call (888) 438-1948 to find out what Wayne Rivers can do to improve your business.

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Access to industry information and fresh strategies may be just what your small business needs. That’s why the Small Business Blog app for Android gives users access to the latest family business information.

This app plugs users into timely articles on issues that impact their companies. Blog topics include money management, customer service, and industry trends. Download this application today for an informed leg up on the competition.

Running a family business takes a balanced mix of intrapersonal skills and organization. Learn how the Family Business Institute can help your closely held company. We’ve been working closely with family businesses and understand the unique challenges they face. We provide solutions for both the family and the business. Contact us by calling (888) 438-1948 or visiting our website today.

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By Wayne Rivers

The often indefinite, blurry lines of justice often confound family businesses as well. Here are a few examples:

In each of the three cases above, the individuals or generations see their own viewpoints with crystal clarity, but have a hard time giving credibility to the viewpoints of others. As time goes on, their viewpoints tend to become more entrenched and the likelihood of compromise becomes less likely (Zig Ziglar refers to this phenomenon as "hardening of the attitudes”). The point of all this is that, just as in the Martin/Zimmerman affair, finding the true balance point of justice is difficult and depends on one's own point of view.

What most families in business lack – and what we as a society are blessed to have - is a well defined, pre-determined system for how to arrive at a form of business family justice. Family owned businesses need some format, system, mechanism, or process to help them “decide how to decide.” Otherwise they risk becoming embroiled in endless finger pointing, quarreling, anger, frustration, and stagnation. In the worst cases, family members become estranged, lawsuits take the place of common sense, and families find their futures irrevocably altered. Family business justice can be elusive, and that beautiful balance point can be hard to define, but families need to invest the time and emotional energy in preventive medicine to avoid the kind of bitter wrangling characterizing our most salacious headline stories.

Wayne Rivers is the president of The Family Business Institute, Inc. FBI’s mission is to deliver interpersonal, operational and financial solutions to help family and closely-held businesses achieve breakthrough success.
^{April 2012}

With the current state of the job market and overall economy, it’s no wonder that more individuals have chosen to invest in family-owned businesses and at-home enterprises. However, the same job market and economic status that led many to start their own family businesses also make it more difficult to increase business revenue. Fortunately, Family Business Institute offers a number of services to help family business and closely held business owners improve their outlook.

Family Business Institute provides a number of solutions utilizing our firm’s proprietary gameplan approach, which includes The Family Business Diagnostic, The Healthy Family Business Prescription, and the Sequential Implementation Method.

• Business Assessments evaluate family and business issues in order to develop plans for dealing with potential challenges and executing projects in a timely manner.
• Succession Planning addresses multi-generational planning and other issues related to the management and ownership of assets during business transitions.
• Conflict Resolution brings issues to the surface to create a relaxed work space.
• Recession Planning works to turn economic challenges into chances for growth and development.
• Strategic Planning facilitates the development of your company’s mission, overall vision, and works to create a roadmap of tactics and strategies to achieve your goals.
• Expense Reduction includes audits, cash flow analysis, and benchmarking.
• Leadership Development identifies the leadership capabilities you need to help your business grow and become sustainable.
• Human Resource Management ensures your company has the right human resource management team with the proper roles and skills needed.
• Business Valuations look at the value drivers both historically and for future development.
• Family Governance develops principles, policies, and procedures to ensure family togetherness.
• Family Meetings and Retreats allow you to conduct meetings with family members to boost excitement.
• Estate Planning aligns the needs of the family and business with the overall goals of company preservation.

Whether you’re just starting up or need help improving business revenue, Family Business Institute is here to help. Learn more about our process management and management training services by visiting our website or contacting us at (888) 438-1948.

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The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case has dominated the headlines for the last couple of weeks. Some observers are absolutely, conclusively convinced that Zimmerman has been unfairly and falsely accused, and others are just as resolutely convinced that Martin was the victim of an aggressive profiler. Both sides vociferously argue for their points of view, and the two sides couldn't be more polarized. Neither Martin’s nor Zimmerman’s defenders are willing or able to see points, perspectives, nor positions offered by the other side, although most third party observers can see some of the points of view of each. Ultimately it's very difficult indeed to say who was right, who was wrong, and where the truth of justice lies. Thank goodness we have a well-defined, generally respected justice system to amass evidence, take all factors into consideration, apply common law and historical precedent, and facilitate a just outcome.

The often indefinite, blurry lines of justice often confound family businesses as well. Here are a few examples:

1. Four third-generation cousins are in business together, and one is adamant that, in a time of declining business fortunes, they are overcompensating themselves and subjecting the company to unrealistic, and perhaps unsustainable financial pressures. The cousins meet repeatedly to discuss the issue, and both sides argue their respective points of view aggressively. Due to their lack of unanimous agreement and clear vision, it's not clear what actions they need to take, and finding the balance point of justice eludes them.
2. Two successful first-generation family business parents lament their son's lack of motivation, direction, and work ethic. They've tried to place him in various roles in their growing family business, but nothing has quite seemed to energize him, nor has he really excelled at anything. The son complains that Mom and Dad are too hard on him and have unrealistic expectations given his youth and relative inexperience. The parents say he's not trying very hard and is more interested in partying and chasing girls than keeping his nose to the grindstone and furthering the interests of the family firm. Both sides argue their respective points of view aggressively; but the generations have a hard time agreeing on where the bright line of justice lies.
3. A father-in-law and his son-in-law are in business together. The business is stable but not as successful as it could be. The father-in-law complains that the son-in-law makes hasty decisions and doesn't allow for enough time for careful consideration of all options. The son-in-law complains that his father-in-law would rather tear out his own eye than make a hard and fast judgment and stick with it. Both sides argue for their points of view aggressively; neither is willing to admit that justice might lie closer to the other’s perspective. Worse, they’re stuck in no man’s land with nowhere to go.

In each of the three cases above, the individuals or generations see their own viewpoints with crystal clarity, but have a hard time giving credibility to the viewpoints of others. As time goes on, their viewpoints tend to become more entrenched and the likelihood of compromise becomes less likely (Zig Ziglar refers to this phenomenon as "hardening of the attitudes”). The point of all this is that, just as in the Martin/Zimmerman affair, finding the true balance point of justice is difficult and depends on one one's point of view.

What most families in business lack – and what we as a society are blessed to have - is a well-defined, pre-determined system for how to arrive at a form of business family justice. Family owned businesses need some format, system, mechanism, or process to help them “decide how to decide.” Otherwise they risk become embroiled in endless finger pointing, quarreling, anger, frustration, and stagnation. In the worst cases, family members become estranged, lawsuits take the place of common sense, and families find their futures irrevocably altered. Family business justice can be elusive, and that beautiful balance point can be hard to define, but families need to invest the time and emotional energy in preventive medicine to avoid the kind of bitter wrangling characterizing our most salacious headline stories.

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Family-owned companies are often looking for new ways to improve their business. Many times, positive changes from within can have a huge impact on overall productivity. Eliminate inter-office tension by utilizing these conflict resolution tips:

• Understand Conflicts
  The first step in resolving conflict is understanding conflict. Conflict reflects a perceived threat between two or more people, which is especially sensitive if the parties involved are family members or friends outside of work. This is why it’s important that managers understand that behind every conflict are powerful emotions. Successful conflict resolution depends on the manager’s ability to recognize these threats and emotions.
   
• Build Trust
  The next step in managing conflict is to establish your role as an authority. Managers who mediate as an objective party have an easier time satisfying the needs of conflicted employees. Start by asking the parties involved in the conflict to take a break. Tell the parties to spend some time apart, cool off, and let their emotions die down. Then, bring them together for a group meeting. Allow each party member to address his or her side of the disagreement. Next, accept some of the responsibility for the conflict by asking how the work environment can be improved.
   
• Set Expectations
  Proper conflict resolution ends with proactive plans for solving the perceived threats. Ask each party member what employees can do to eliminate the conflict. Identify a fair compromise, and ask if all party members will agree to it. Be firm about your expectations that each member follows through on his or her agreed commitment. Lastly, end the conversation with encouragement for all employees.

Conflict resolution is an important skill for any manager. These skills are especially vital when you’re working with a small or family-owned business. Contact the Family Business Institute at (888) 438-1948 for more tips on managing your family business and to learn about our family business consulting services.

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"I have to admit I was skeptical about how successful you (or anyone for that matter) could be at the task you were given when you came to our company.   How could one man move a mountain that big?  How could one man bring clarity to the issues that have been compounding for so many years?  I’m amazed at the impact you've made here.  The organizational changes have proven to be so much more productive for everyone.  You’ve made my job so much more enjoyable and easier!  The clarity of roles allows everyone to focus on their contribution to the company.  Everyone seems so confident and decisive.

The difference is night and day.  You’ve created a true fan!  I'm amazed and impressed.  I can whole-heartedly recommend your services.  I neither know nor care how you did it; I'm just grateful that you did.  You cleared the road for us to build our business." 

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed on Client Testimonial at

Reviewed by Pam Gallo, Renaissance Promotions

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