What’s keeping family businesses awake at night?

Running a family-owned business is complex. Conflict between family members, differing viewpoints on growth, and poor communication are some of the factors that can impact the success of a business.

So how do you find a balance between meeting the needs of your business and the expectations of family members?

Read more about the opportunities and challenges the Sages have faced – and the strategies they’ve developed – as their business and their family has grown.

If you’re interested in a customised workshop for your family business, or would like to join a round table discussion with other business families enquire via the following link:

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The sages family business story

The little grocery store that grew

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Questions to answer

These are the five key issues and related questions for family business owners.

1. Shared vision
2. Future readiness
3. Family harmony
4. Next-gen aspirations
5. Family wealth

Do we all share the same vision for the future of our business?

How can we make sure that everyone in our family is on the same page and working towards the same goals?

The world is changing quickly.

Do we have the agility and capabilities we need to keep our business future-ready?

Achieving family harmony is important.

How can we separate business decisions from family decisions and set clear expectations for what we are accountable for — individually and collectively?

How well are we engaging the next generation in our plans for transitioning the ownership and management of our business successfully?

What are the rising generation’s aspirations, and how might we integrate their goals into our business?

What are the options for diversifying our family’s assets?

What can we do to make sure that we have an effective wealth strategy for the prosperity of generations to come?

The Sages: A family business success story

As your family business continues to evolve, understanding how to manage the sustainable growth of the business alongside the wellbeing of the family is crucial.

The Sages family business story is a fictional account of how entrepreneur Thomas Sage established his family-run grocery shop in the 1950s and grew the business into a major global retail group.

Learn about the various challenges that the family members faced, including ownership succession, governance and family constitution, growth financing, international expansion, wealth management and philanthropy and the need to develop a shareholders’ agreement.

How can your family business benefit from the Sages’ experience?

When major decisions about the company and its structure were required, the Sages engaged consultants who understood the dynamics and common challenges of running a successful family business.

KPMG's Private Enterprise Family Business advisers can work directly with you and your family members to facilitate a customised workshop – or a series of workshops – on the challenges you are facing in the operation of your family-owned business.

We can also host roundtable discussions with other business families to share your experiences, discuss common challenges and learn from your peers.

Understanding the Sages family story can help you recognise the challenges, strengths and opportunities that exist in your own family business story.

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Explore real family business issues and strategies.
Strengthen family bonds by listening to each other and co-developing new approaches.
Gain fresh insights from other faily businesses in external workshops.

Sages family business case studies: download library

Read more about the opportunities and challenges the Sages have faced – and the strategies they’ve developed.

The Sages family identified three key issues they needed to address:

How to develop leaders to guide the family business in the years to come.
How to build a formal board of directors.
How to create a new governance model with an external CEO.

The Sages family business story can help you navigate many of the pressing issues facing business families today. These three case studies are part of an additional 17 scenarios that examine the full complexity of the situations the Sages family has faced in relation to growth, transition, people, risk, governance and wealth. These scenarios are an excellent basis for opening up conversations for everyone to learn, share experiences and discuss new approaches openly.

The Sages family business story

The little grocery store that grew.

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Developing next-generation leaders

Case study 14: Developing next-generation leaders

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Building a formal board of directors

Case study 16: Building a board of directors

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Governance with an external CEO

Case study 19: Governance with an external CEO

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Talk with us about your family business

KPMG’s Family Business Workshops can help you navigate the complexities and challenges of family businesses. The workshops are designed around our 6 key capabilities model of family business dynamics. Using a series of specifically designed case studies we workshop the key challenges, and opportunities, facing you and your family as business owners.