Take a look at your results. You might want to print these off and refer back to them as you progress. For the purpose of this exercise, we have differentiated between two views of ownership. The first is that owning a family business is like owning any business – you hope for a good return and enjoy your profits. The second view is that ownership of a family business is unique – there is an emotional element to it, linked with family unity and legacy. Your results will show you where you fall on the spectrum between these two views. It will be interesting to see if your answers change as we continue through the course.
For the purpose of this exercise, we have differentiated between two views of ownership.
- Emotional Owner: The term ‘emotional owner’ refers to a family business owner that has an emotional connection to the business and believes it to be linked to family unity and legacy.
- Pragmatic Owner: The term ‘pragmatic owner’ refers to a family business owner whose connection to their business is unrelated to their family, and whose interest is the same as any non-family business owner.
It is rare that a person is completely one or the other – more likely, you will fall somewhere on a spectrum between the two.
