The importance of business families in the economy requires incorporating specialists in succession processes who act independently and guarantee the permanence and stability of these organizations, vital for the stability of a country like Spain.
Madrid, May 3, 2023
According to Family Business InstituteIn Spain, over one million businesses are family-owned, representing 89% of the total, and they create 67% of private sector employment (more than 6,58 million jobs). Ultimately, they are responsible for 57,1% of the private sector's GDP, constituting the largest source of employment in the country.
But the importance of family businesses in the economy is not limited to Spain. According to the same source, there are fourteen million family businesses in the EU, generating sixty million jobs. In the US, these types of companies represent 80% of the business fabric and generate 50% of private sector employment. From all this, we can deduce that these types of businesses are essential for sustaining economies worldwide.
The main challenge facing family businesses is the succession process, which must be managed well in advance and agreed upon by all members of the business-owning family. This process can be managed internally by the family or by engaging external experts, either as mentors for the future heirs or as project management. In both models, Interim Management firms can be extremely useful, as they address the issues from outside the family structure, with complete independence and neutrality. The interim manager assigned to the succession project can design and implement the Succession Plan or simply implement the one the family business has already developed, either independently or with external advice.
More than one million Spanish companies belong to business families that create 67% of employment in the private sector.
Succession plans can be as simple or complex as the circumstances of the family business require. The geographical and sectoral scope, as well as the idiosyncrasies of these companies, are so diverse that specific plans are needed for each one. However, there are concrete principles for achieving a successful succession, and even for making it a circumstance that fosters optimization and improved organizational results. In general, the main steps to take for succession are the following:
1. Evaluation:
- Analysis and diagnosis of the Entrepreneur-Family-Business triad.
2 Planning:
- Family protocol.
- Estate planning.
- Matrimonial property regime.
- Disability.
3 Qualification for generational change.
- Generational change.
- Professionalization of the family business.
- Growth and internationalization of the Family Business.
4 Planning and restructuring of business and family assets.
- Analysis, planning and reorganization of business and family assets with the aim of diversifying risks, defining responsibilities, optimizing taxation and taking advantage of tax exemptions and benefits for Family Businesses.
- Preparation of the legal documents that are necessary to carry out the restructuring of family and business assets.
Throughout this process, Interim Management services prove invaluable, as the family business owners see planning and decisions being made by a highly qualified professional, external to them, who will not remain with the company after their work concludes. This prevents disputes and tense situations of all kinds. Sometimes, these situations require difficult decisions that only an expert outside the family dynamics can implement.
Some of the companies specializing in Interim Management, such as EPUNTOThey have seen one of their main growth drivers, both nationally and internationally, as the transitional management of succession processes within family businesses. Undoubtedly, the integration of new generations, along with the invaluable work of organizations like the "Family Business Institute," has significantly contributed to the introduction of Interim Management in these complex yet interesting and fruitful situations when handled properly.