Family owned businesses account for 60% of total US employment, 78% of all new jobs, more than 50% of GDP and 65% of all wages paid.(Financial Planning, Nov. 1999)
More than 30% of all family owned businesses survive into the second generation. 12% will still be viable into the third generation, with 3% of all family businesses operating at fourth generation level and beyond. (Joseph Astrachan, Ph.D., editor, Family Business Review)
The greatest part of America's wealth lies with family-owned businesses. Family firms comprise 80 to 90% of all business enterprises in North America. (J.H. Astrachan and M.C. Shanker, Family Business Review, Summer 1996)
There has been an almost five-fold increase in the number of women leaders in family business since 1997, and almost a third of firms indicate they may have a female successor. (Mass Mutual 2007 American Family Business Survey)
Nearly 60 percent of family businesses believe that their ethical standards are more stringent than those of competing firms. More than one third (37 percent) have written ethics codes, and discussions about ethics with employees, customers, and partners are frequent. (Mass Mutual 2007 American Family Business Survey)
More than 25% of family firms expect the next CEO to be a woman; fewer than one-third of FOBs surveyed have a written strategic plan; 44% named their accountant as their most trusted advisor and 84.6% named the accountant as the first, second, or third most trusted advisor (Arthur Andersen/MassMututal, 1997)
Family businesses are thriving. More than 96 percent of respondents anticipate that their business will expand or at least remain the same size over the next year. Recent economic slowdowns, particularly in sub-prime lending, have not seemed to influence this key segment of the economy. The profound optimism of family business owners has them charging forward. (Family-to-Family: the Laird Norton Tyee Family Business Survey 2007)
Perception is not necessarily reality. Nearly 95 percent of respondents indicate that they manage their family-owned enterprise like they would any other business, but the numbers say otherwise. Only 56 percent have a written strategic plan and less than 30 percent have a written succession plan. (Family-to-Family: the Laird Norton Tyee Family Business Survey 2007)
Inadequate estate planning and failure to properly prepare and provide for the transition to the next generation, coupled with lack of funds to pay estate taxes, were among the three leading causes for the failure of FOBs. In 47.7%, the transition and ultimate collapse of the firm was precipitated by the founder's death. (Survey of 800 family-owned businesses, University of Connecticut Family Business Program)
The oldest family owned business operating in the US is the Zildjian Cymbal Co. of Norwood, MA. Founded 1623 in Constantinople and moved with the family to the US in 1929. (Family Business Magazine, Spring 2008). For a complete list of America’s oldest family businesses, go to www.familybusinessmagazine.com/oldestcos.html
Check these sites for more family business facts and current data:
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