|
Forum to help family businesses handle issues
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
Attorney Robert W. Pearce Jr., a partner with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, describes them as the worst cases he has seen in his 22 years practicing law.
A securities case, perhaps? A matter relating to trademark infringement? A merger?
As complicated as any of those cases might be, the answer is cases involving family-owned businesses.
“Believe me, the rest pale by comparison because of the hard feelings and the long-term impact on the businesses involved,” Pearce said.
“That’s because in addition to the normal problems of running a business, you’ve layered on the dynamics of a familial relationship,” he continued. “That’s a very tricky situation to navigate successfully.”
Now, the College of Charleston’s Tate Center for Entrepreneurship is striving to help family-run businesses navigate the deep and multifaceted issues they face long before they wind up in Pearce’s, or any other attorney’s, office.
The Tate Center’s Family Business Forum will give participating companies a chance to get and share advice on how to succeed in today’s business climate while preventing the home fires from burning down the enterprise.
The new program, which currently includes 17 local family businesses but could be expanded to as many as 25, has begun meeting monthly. Organizers hope to offer twice-yearly programs open to all family-owned businesses in the area.
No date for the open session has been announced.
“There’s no question, family businesses are kind of a unique setting,” said John E. Clarkin, director of the Tate Center, in explaining the initiative. “Because the reality is, you’re not only building a commercial enterprise, you’re creating a lifestyle for your family as well.
“Think about it: The founder starts out, typically with nothing, and builds a business over the years. His children grow up in much different circumstances than he did and take the business over, hopefully growing it.”
Then the third generation comes along, and they don’t want to be involved in the business. They want to go off and do something else, Clarkin said.
“How do you deal with that, especially if the founder is still alive? There’s bound to be some friction there,” he said.
With that, Clarkin ticked off other potential hazards unique to family-owned businesses, including sibling rivalry and gender-related succession issues.
“And along with that, remember an awful lot of the family’s wealth is tied up in or dependent on that business,” he said.
About 60% of businesses in the Charleston area are closely held family firms, providing the Tate Center with a unique opportunity to serve as a sounding board and business resource, Clarkin said.
“Charleston being a small town, it’s a little difficult getting business owners to talk openly,” he said, “especially about problems or challenges they may be confronting. Of course, that may actually work in our favor because we don’t really want to just bring people together to swap war stories.
“Our intent is to get them thinking about conflict resolution and things like succession planning earlier rather than later.”
Future sessions would also include speakers on subjects Clarkin thinks local business owners ought to hear.
“Because, after all, you don’t know what you don’t know,” he said.
The program is being run with support from the Cox Family Enterprise Center, a leading family-business program based at Kennesaw State University near Atlanta.
Clarkin initially reached out to the Cox Center hoping to pick the brains of Center Director Joseph Astrachan and Associate Director Kristi McMillan about their program, he said.
However, the duo surprised him.
Not only did Clarkin leave their discussion with a wealth of information about the promise and challenges such a program might experience, but they also offered their direct involvement.
“It didn’t hurt that Kristi’s a College of Charleston alumni,” Clarkin said. “She has a real soft spot for us.”
Local sponsors include financial companies MassMutual Financial Group, Pratt-Thomas, Gumb & Co. CPAs, SCP Partners, BB&T and Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.
Clarkin is optimistic about the program’s future.
“I’m hoping that there will be enough demand that we have to keep this going and expand it,” he said. “Of course, we don’t want to expand so much that people stop being engaged.”
Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version