Because, contrary to popular belief, family businesses are not just those small SMEs that exist in our towns, cities and industrial estates. They are much more, because they are also large listed companies whose founders or descendants own at least 20% of the direct shares or in which the voting rights of these companies are at least 20%.
They are, without a doubt, a huge contributor to the wealth of countries, being, for example, in the Spanish case, the main generator of jobs with 67% of private employment in our country and 57% of private GDP . And it is not an isolated case, for example, in the European Union there are around 17 million Family Businesses that generate one hundred million jobs.
Family Business, the Great Survivor of Economic Crises
Its family component means that its growth, margins and therefore its profitability are superior over time. And everything has its reason for being.
As I was saying, their family component makes them less risky and, therefore, their leverage is lower , something that protected them in the last crisis, obtaining better survival figures than non-family companies. And they reacted very well in the following years, reducing their debt faster than the rest of the companies. Being family companies, they think long-term, their decision-making always has continuity based on their values in mind, and for this reason, they pay more attention to R&D than other types of companies.
Start of marked textShare the information! Family businesses generate 67% of private employment in our country.End of marked text
But to put a 'but' we have the rule of the three transportation email list generations. No matter the country, no matter the language, we will always find a saying that says that the third generation will end where the first one started . Obviously it is not always like that, but it is true that we must pay attention to one of the main obstacles of these companies: succession.
Generational change can shake up a business and it is not always a question of money. The emotional part has a lot of weight. No two families are the same. Knowing their values is essential if we want to preserve the family legacy. Common sense must prevail and the main objective must be to guarantee the survival of the company . An entrepreneurial attitude is key, in order to achieve a balance between exploration to continue innovating and discovering new business opportunities, and exploitation to keep in mind the generation of income.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Family Business
Doing this correctly means that they project their values and corporate culture to the rest of the team, strengthening the sense of belonging of its members and making the new generations feel a sense of pride in the social contribution of the company. And if you look closely, Family Businesses praise care, loyalty and commitment , and hence their firm commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility.
In fact, the main qualities that successful family business successors want to learn from their parents are family values and an entrepreneurial mindset. Something that cannot be learned in any master's degree, only in the family.
