No two family businesses are the same. The ownership structure, the number of active family members, the stage of the business, and the specific tensions present all shape what kind of engagement makes sense.
Each project begins with a diagnostic conversation. What follows is built specifically for the family and business in question.
For businesses that have grown beyond informal financial management and need a written framework. We work with the family to design governance documents that cover decision-making authority, financial reporting expectations, reinvestment criteria, and the processes for revisiting these rules as conditions change.
This type of project typically involves individual diagnostic interviews, facilitated family sessions, and iterative document drafting over a period of several months. The result is a living document owned by the family.
For families where the distribution of business profits has become a source of tension or ambiguity. We build transparent criteria for how profits are calculated, what portion is available for distribution, how distributions relate to ownership stakes, and how extraordinary distributions are handled.
One of the most sensitive areas in family businesses. We help families distinguish between compensation for work done, return on ownership, and family support, and build frameworks that make these distinctions explicit and agreed upon.
When a generational transition is approaching, the financial questions are often the most complex. We work on the financial governance structures that need to be in place before, during, and after the transition, supporting continuity without prescribing specific legal arrangements.
For families where younger generations are joining the business and need to develop the financial understanding necessary to participate meaningfully in governance. We design educational programs tailored to the specific context of the family business.
Every engagement begins with an initial conversation where we explore the current situation, the family's goals, and whether our approach is the right fit. We do not start projects before this alignment is clear.
The diagnostic phase that follows is typically the most revealing part of the process. Individual conversations with family members often surface different understandings of the same situation. This diversity is not a problem. It is the starting material for governance design.
Protocol design happens collaboratively. We do not deliver finished documents for signature. We facilitate the conversations through which the family reaches its own agreements, and we give those agreements the written form they need to function over time.
We begin by understanding your specific context. There is no proposal before there is a real understanding of the situation.