Apr 12, 2022

Spring brings wisdom from 100-year-old family businesses

family businesses are different AND normal

By Dan Beenken

Our last Virtual Breakfast Series session of the 2021-22 program year is going to focus on the Century Club! Rather, the session will feature business families that have longevity beyond 100 years.

How have they done it? What does the secret sauce look like? How can our family learn from what has helped others last so long?

We will have family members from a couple of those Century Club businesses on our panel. In addition, Dennis Jaffe, author of "Resilience of 100-Year Family Enterprises," (see "Bonus Content" below for a special workshop offer) will speak on what he has learned as a researcher and consultant with family businesses.

From the reading I've done, here are few takeaways on themes of 100-year-old firms:

Continual Reinvention
Any firm, regardless of ownership, doesn’t see its 100th birthday without a focus on innovation and a culture that encourages some levels of risk and change. Hence, we don’t see Blockbuster Video in the Century Club.
Development of Future Leadership
Development of the NexGen is a continual process for Century Clubbers. It's not something you can start and stop based on the age of the siblings, cousins, etc. Consistent development of future leaders and consistent communication among them is critical as a family business moves from one generation to the next.
Values
This one might seem a little “touchy feely,” but it's possibly more important than any other theme I have seen. The specific values your family has is not what matters. The critical part is that everyone agrees on those values and that they are truly shared and practiced—not only by family, but also by the non-family employees. Values must permeate the culture of the business.

These are just a few of the ingredients that go into the Century Club sauce recipe. I hope you can join us online on May 20, at 8 a.m., for far more discussion and sharing of experiences on how family businesses create and sustain longevity. Here's a link to register >>

Bonus Content: Dive deeper into century-old family businesses with our Quarter Two book club on Dennis Jaffe's book, "Resilience of 100-Year Family Enterprises." Join us in April, May, and June, for discussions on the book and a Q&A opportunity with Dennis during the June meeting. Click here to learn more >>