“Three generations from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves,” Andrew Carnegie commented on the tendency of families to squander their wealth in a relatively short span of time. There’s a message in that for business owners.
Do you own a business? Do you have your children working for you in your business? Do they actually work or are they glorified tokens slowing down the real work?
According to an article on gobankingrates.com; only a little over 30 percent of all family-owned businesses make the transition into the second generation. That means most of these types of businesses last for one generation, then close down, fail to make it or are sold. There are only 3 percent of all family businesses operating at the fourth-generation level and beyond. Just because a generation starts a lucrative business does not ensure generational wealth for any foreseeable timeframe.
Estate taxes are a bit of an issue at times, but if there are multiple children, multiple families of children; all of this also playing into longevity.
How will your business fair? I expect mine to be sold or carry on without a family member running it.