Hi Rick,

I was parking my car over near the Vitamin Shoppe, and for some reason I started to think about family businesses.  I thought about how they usually do not last past their third generation. I’ve learned that from you, and always accepted it as fact.  I still know it to be fact, but this time it struck me very hard. Why should that be? What makes the difference between three generations and out, and a multi-generational family business? And what makes that business one that continues for 100 years or more?

Well, it occurs to me that times change. The economy changes. Opportunities for upcoming generations change. The way young people view their futures; their attitudes toward work changes. Is their family business one they can be proud of? Does the business’ values match the values of the current time? Can it’s products or services be updated again and again? What impact does the incumbent generation have upon their thinking? How often can/do they impart a vision of the business in the future?

What makes a young person wish to stay with and build their family business?  And where is the tipping point between the second or third generation, and the next hundred years?

You’ve said it begins with intention.  Where does intention begin?

Suddenly I find this a deep and meaningful mystery.

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Some thoughts from the Vitamin Shoppe parking lot – November 27, 2018