Assessment Quiz

Is your family business addressing current issues? Is it prepared for future challenges?

Take our self-assessment quiz and find out.

How would you describe the family's vision for the business?

1. It’s a rearview mirror – we’re planning to do what we’ve always done.
2. The family’s vision for the business is Dad’s vision for the business.
3. We’ve never really talked about it.
4. We openly discuss and update our vision periodically at our family meetings.

 

Have you agreed on principles or values that guide how your family works together?

1. I think we agreed on them once a long time ago.  I would bet most family members have forgotten what they are.
2. We have some wacky people in our family so we could never reach a consensus on principles or values.
3. We have principles, but no one actually abides by them.
4. We have developed a “Family Constitution” that includes our vision and guiding principles. And we’re not afraid to hold each other accountable to those principles.

 

How do you determine who in the family can work for the business?

1. If you’re standing upright and breathing, you’re in.
2. Direct descendants of my grandfather can work for the company. Spouses? No way.
3. Family members are discouraged from working for the company. Why make relationships even more complicated?
4. We require family members to work elsewhere and demonstrate success before considering them for positions in the company. 

 

Do you and other family members understand your roles and responsibilities as business owners?

1. Sure. Our role is to maximize the flow of cash from the company to us.
2. Of course. Just like my parents, I make sure management is doing their job. I just wish they’d take my advice more often.
3. With our family name on the door, I guess you could say we do pretty much what we want. (My Dad’s secretary does a wonderful job paying our family bills, too.)
4. We know that family owners, family non-owners, board members and management have different responsibilities. We all work hard at observing our boundaries.

 

Does your company have a strategic plan?

1. Yes, it’s all in Mom’s head. She’s incredible!
2. We’re too busy to waste time on strategic planning.
3. I think we put one together a couple years ago. Where the heck did I put that?
4. Though we are constantly thinking strategically, we gather our management team for a few days annually to update our three-year plan through an assessment of our core competencies, market conditions and the competitive environment.

 

How would you describe communication from the company to the owners?

1. As the company CEO, I’ve always thought, “the less they know the better.” I don’t want my siblings and the younger family members to meddle.
2. Once a year we get a brief letter from Dad that tells us everything is okay and not to worry. 
3. Our Chief Financial Officer handles communication to family owners by sending us detailed year-end statements. I’m pretty smart, but I’m not a CFO. I can’t tell if the year was great or disastrous.
4. We receive quarterly updates from the CEO that cover key business strategies as well as important financial metrics. And we get together annually to listen to a management presentation and ask our questions.

 

Is your company governed by a board of directors?

1. We don’t need one. A board is just another expense and we’d just waste our time preparing for meetings and teaching board members our business.
2. Sort of. Dad, Mom, Grandma and our attorney, Uncle Larry, are on the board. Come to think of it, I’m not sure they actually meet.
3. Yes, and Dad loves his board. Maybe that’s because he’s such good friends with all the board members. They all went to college together. And I think he serves on their boards too.
4. We have a board composed of a few family members as well as independent directors who are senior executives or CEO’s at other companies. The CEO really values their input and the family appreciates their constructive candor and outside perspective.And they don’t meddle because they’re too busy running their businesses!

 

Thank you for participating in this self-assessment quiz! Did you notice a pattern? Answering “Number 4” to most questions signals that your family business is likely to be healthy and on the right track. However, if you answered numbers one to three most of the time, you are overdue for a family business check-up. Contact us to learn how we can help.