Global Family Business Survey 2024

Unlocking family business legacy for sustainable growth

Global research by KPMG Private Enterprise and the STEP Project Global Consortium (SPGC) shows there is a strong link between the legacy of family businesses and their performance and sustainability.

Drawing on a survey of more than 2,600 family-owned business leaders in 80 countries, Unlocking legacy – the path to superior growth in family businesses explores the nature of family business legacies and shares insights on how they can drive performance, sustainability and future growth.

The survey’s findings show that family businesses in New Zealand are well placed to capture these benefits and thrive as new generations step in. Key to achieving this is to view family business legacies through a future-focused lens as intentional and essential ingredients for sustainable growth.

Take the legacy matrix assessment

Discover how leading family businesses are balancing tradition and innovation to achieve superior business performance.

Find out why legacy matters with key takeaways on:

How the family’s legacy is a high-value asset that contributes to superior business and sustainability performance.
Why legacies are important for connecting the past, present and future in making strategic decisions.
How strong legacies contribute to socioemotional wealth and transgenerational entrepreneurship.
Why it’s important to recognize that legacies may become liabilities if they are too entrenched in tradition and stand in the way of innovation.

45 %

of family businesses with high legacy scores reported stronger business performance compared to competitors.

53 %

with high legacy scores reported high sustainability results.

Global Family Business Survey 2024

Download Report ⤓ New Zealand Data ⤓ Executive Summary ⤓

New Zealand Family Business survey scores

We surveyed 50 New Zealand family businesses asking several questions to determine the varying degrees to which they incorporate legacy, transgenerational entrepreneurship, and sustainability into their family business. Read our New Zealand Benchmark report for more details.

Legacy

78 %

Degree to which legacy is incorporated into the family business. Global score = 78%

Entrepreneurship

76 %

Degree of transgenerational entrepreneurship incorporated into the family business. Global score = 76%

Sustainability

79 %

Degree to which sustainability is incorporated into the family business. Global score = 78% .

Performance

77 %

NZ family business's perception of their overall business performance. Global score = 71%*

*Measured across growth, market share, employees, profitability, return on equity, return on assets and profit margin.

The survey results show that New Zealand family businesses share many similarities with our global counterparts. This alignment with global trends, especially in terms of biological and social legacy elements, strengthens and reinforces the resilience of our local family businesses.

Jon Holmes

National Managing Partner, Private Enterprise KPMG in New Zealand

Understanding family business legacies

As a valuable family business asset, legacy can drive growth and performance by:

maintaining the strategic focus of the family and business
preserving family values
building a resilient culture
establishing reputation
passing on knowledge
ensuring continuity
strengthening emotional connections
adapting to change
guiding decision-making.

Depending on the nature of a family business’s legacy, it can either be a burden or an enabler. A family business that focuses on the material or traditional elements of its legacy can have lower levels of entrepreneurship and risk-taking – causing business growth and performance to suffer.

Future-centric family business legacies reach well beyond their historical foundations, enabling new generations to build upon the hard work of their founders. This requires a commitment to innovation and growth, anchored in the business’s core values, heritage and traditions.

Transgenerational entrepreneurship among younger generations can amplify family business legacies for sustained prosperity. The survey found that family-owned businesses with strong legacies and high levels of transgenerational entrepreneurship reported significantly higher financial and sustainability results.

Family-owned businesses can use the report to understand the strengths of their legacy and assess it across four different types: static, preservative, evolving and dynamic.

Each type differs by level of transgenerational entrepreneurship and legacy score. The highest percentage of small family businesses represented in the survey have static legacies.

The oldest family businesses often have preservative legacies. When a legacy is preservative, it is too entrenched in tradition and can stand in the way of innovation, adaptability and agility.

A more dynamic legacy can serve as a source of identity, inspiration and innovation, so the family’s business can embrace the future and achieve higher levels of performance across generations.

Moving a family business legacy from preservative to dynamic requires a culture that embraces both the heritage of the family and the progression of its business. This can be achieved through strategic innovation, flexible governance, next-generation leadership, legacy communication, entrepreneurial encouragement and succession planning.

Take the assessment

Applying the legacy matrix to your family business may be an important first step in assessing the strength of your legacy and how it may be impacting the performance of your business.

Finding the balance between honouring tradition and embracing new leadership and ideas isn't just a luxury – it's a necessity. Ultimately, family businesses should embrace their legacy and share its essence with the next generation while giving them the freedom to create their own. This dynamic process can lead to lasting success.

Jon Holmes

National Managing Partner, Private Enterprise KPMG in New Zealand

Why are family businesses focusing more on their legacies now?

As greater numbers of younger generation family members are beginning to enter their family businesses, there is an increasing need to focus on the future by: