Inside Case Western's Center for Family Business with Laura Bonnet (EP 20)

Speaker A: If you're an entrepreneur, you've taken big risks, created many jobs, and devoted yourself to your business. When it comes to building your succession and transition plan, who should be involved? What are the steps along the way? Welcome to Finish Big, the podcast with Mark Dorman, sponsored by Succession Plus, Inspired by the book Finish how, um, Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top by the noted entrepreneurial author Bo Burlingham. In this podcast, we share success stories along with our expertise and knowledge about what will probably be the largest financial transaction of your life. Now onto the show.

Speaker B: Hello, and welcome to the Finish Big podcast. This is your host, Mark Dorman, and I am delighted, uh, this morning as it is a lovely morning here in Northeast Ohio, to be joined by, uh, an individual who's become a friend of the show and a friend of Succession plus one of our primary sponsors, Ms. Laura Bonnet. And Laura is the founding director of the center for Family Business of Case Western Reserve. Laura is the founding director, as I mentioned, of the center for Family Business at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve. It was established in the fall of 2023, and the center's mission is to connect and equip multigenerational family businesses to help them build stronger legacies. I love that. Before leading the center, Laura held key strategic roles at American Greetings, including Vice President of Strategic Planning and Initiatives. She previously spent several years at McKinsey Company, where she provided insights and solutions to a diverse range of clients. Laura's career also includes valuable experience with prominent companies like General Motors, the Disney Company. She holds an MBA from Stanford University, uh, bachelor's in Science and Business Administration from the University of Nebraska. Let me tell you a little bit about Case Western Reserve, uh, located in Cleveland, Ohio, the combination of the Old Western Resort, Reserve College, and the Case Test Technical Institute. Some notable alumni from Case Western Reserve include Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Carl, uh, Stokes, the first mayor of Cleveland, Herbert Henry Dow, the founder of Dow Chemical, the legendary football coach Don Shula, and half a dozen Nobel laureates, and, uh, if you're in the entertainment business, the famed Russo brothers, who produce and directed the Avengers. So, Laura Bonnett, welcome to Finish Big, the podcast. Thank you for joining us.

Speaker C: Thank you, Mark. I'm thrilled to be here.

Speaker B: Yeah, thank you. So let's get, uh, let's dig in. Uh, we're here, uh, to really talk about, uh, the mission, uh, and, uh, the kind of founding nature. I'm very familiar with family business centers. Uh, of course, we're in the state of Ohio. The Great Buckeye State. We've got a wonderful center, the Gehring center down at the University of Cincinnati. Uh, we've got a center up in the Toledo, uh, marketplace. We're delighted. My good friend and partner Chris Goble and I, uh, were always saying we need a business center, family business center in Northeast Ohio. So when we heard about, uh, Case was putting a stake in the ground, uh, we were very, very excited. Uh, but before we get there, uh, I'm very interested to know you've got a very diverse corporate background. Uh, you grew up, as we said before we got on the air, in the Midwest, in Nebraska. Um, what was your, uh, upbringing like? Did you find yourself being attracted to business? And how did you end up in Stanford? I'd love to go to that campus. I've seen pictures of it.

Speaker C: Um, you know, probably my love of business came from my mom. Um, you know, she was, uh, she worked for, in sales for Reader's Digest for many years. And that's when you didn't see as many women actually in business. But she was a hard worker, she was a driver, um, just a go getter. And I think that just kind of love of um, connecting with people, you know, providing them a great product, which was she was doing at the time, just got me started down my business path, uh, you know, from Nebraska. That's where I graduated from high school. So it was kind of a natural fit to stay, uh, where family was in terms of getting to Stanford at that point I really just wanted to go to the best school I could go to, to be quite honest.

Speaker B: Yeah, we picked a good one.

Speaker C: It was a great one. I was working for General Motors at the time in Detroit. So obviously University of Michigan would have been a natural choice. But um, I applied to a number of schools and part of my territory, interestingly enough, at General Motors included California. So I was out there quite often for work and I said, why not? This is an amazing place. I actually had a sibling who was going to school out there as well. So that's how I ended up at Stanford.

Speaker B: Yeah. Uh, and you seem to follow in your mother's footsteps because a female, uh, not so long ago in the automobile industry was probably still a little bit. Not unusual, but uh, not as unusual as Reader's Digest back when your mom was uh, working there. But uh, that's a tough industry for a woman, isn't it?

Speaker C: You know, I had an interesting role. I basically was a service advisor to about 60 dealerships.

Speaker B: Okay, wow.

Speaker C: So I was a young 22 year old woman trying to manage my budget for General Motors and take care of warranty, service repairs across all these dealers. And it was a man's world.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I know when I get my car worked on, it's still, uh, I'm always, uh, surprised to see the women. And they're, and they're tough. I mean you have to be in that industry because you're, you got mechanics and uh, the service department and the sales professionals, et cetera. But um, so Stanford, uh, obviously, uh, just a phenomenal school, uh, in the country, um, and you work at the Disney. So walk us kind of through your career, maybe a little bit of, uh, your timeline on your career.

Speaker C: Sure. So at Nebraska, I had some really great summer internship opportunities. Um, the first one, well, one of the ones I had was going down to Disney on their college program. So that was a summer program where they would bring in, you know, it was like 600 kids, um, from around the country. And we would work, um, in the parks, but we would also go to leadership seminars once a week.

Speaker B: Let me just, let me pause you right there. Uh, my beautiful wife Tanya of 38 years, she also was a Disney college student from uh, Kensington University. Yeah, yeah, Very nice. She loved it. She loved it.

Speaker C: Yeah. So, so granted, loved working at Disney. The next summer I was interning for General Motors up in Detroit. And then the following year there was a co op between General Motors and Disney down at Epcot center at their World of Motion. So then I ended up going down and worked for Disney, technically Disney, but also General Motors, then for the next year down there on that co op program. So I was in and out of Disney a couple times, in and out of General Motors multiple times. Um, but really just a great experience in terms of just getting to know the parks and the, what I learned from Disney mainly is just how every single person that's on that Disney team tries to make that a memorable guest visit and how every interaction should really count.

Speaker B: Mhm, mhm. And that's probably something, uh, that service, ah, service before self mentality is something you probably took into your professional career. I know, uh, my wife has done the same. But um, so from uh, General Motors, what were the other steps, steps along the way?

Speaker C: Well, after General Motors, that's when I went to Stanford. Yep, yep, After Stanford then I wanted to go back to the Midwest, chose the Cleveland office, um, for McKinsey. And I was there for the next six years. Uh, my heart and soul is always kind of consumer packaged goods, retail. So I did a lot of work in that space. Space, um, whether strategy, process, redesign, um, m and a type of work. And um, when it was time to kind of exit McKinsey, I ended up staying in Cleveland, moving to American Greetings. So following my interest in kind of the packaged goods arena.

Speaker B: Yeah. And how long were you at American Greetings for?

Speaker C: Um, in total, about 20 years.

Speaker B: Oh, wow.

Speaker C: Now some of that was when I was living in Texas, so I have a long part time stint there as well. But, um, in total about 20. And the company changed fairly significantly, um, during the time I was there. When I came in, um, it was a family business, it was privately held business.

Speaker B: And then it went public, right?

Speaker C: Um, yes, private, then public, then private again and then sold to private equity. Um, at the time they were transitioning from the third to the fourth generation. And being that I was, um, leading strategy for the company at the time, is working closely with the Weiss family on really driving through all that strategy, you know, being part of that kind of transition and seeing that firsthand, um, and then kind of coming full circle, you know, seeing them obviously exit the business at some point.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, excellent. Uh, I appreciate you sharing that. So 20, uh, years at American Greetings. Uh, that is a, uh, really a flagship, uh, Cleveland, Northeast Ohio company, uh, if you will. Uh, how did you, uh, when did you hear about the opportunity at Case. Did you have any relationships at Case? Uh, how did you kind of throw your hat into the ring there?

Speaker C: Well, uh, interestingly enough, the person who placed me at American Greetings is also on our advisory board at the center for Family Business. And she and I were connecting over breakfast one day and she knew I was looking to do something different. Um, I had the family business experience from American Greetings. I mean, I knew business from my years of being in business, granted. Um, but I also have a love for higher education in Texas. I was adjunct faculty at kind of my local university. I've always had this interest in that college of environment. And she says, laurie, this is perfect for you. And um, sounded interesting. And here I am.

Speaker B: Wow. Great. Great. So let's talk about the family, the center for Family Business. Um, you know, obviously, Case Western Reserve University, the Weatherhead School of Business is a, uh, really, ah, one of the more prominent business schools in Ohio. In fact, uh, it's on the, uh, I think the, the next level of the Ivy League. I did some research, uh, and it has got, uh, as I shared in my opening, some very notable alumni. But in Cleveland, a, uh, a Case MBA is like, wow, that's uh, that's impressive. It uh, maybe not quite be Stanford, uh, out on the west coast, but in Northeast Ohio and the Midwest it carries a lot of weight. Um, you know, I, I, I, I think going back to some, some of the comments I made earlier, um, when Chris Goble and I did some research on wanting to establish a family, uh, business center in Northeast Ohio. And being that we're uh, the leaders at Succession plus and we, we do succession and exit planning, as you know, we were shocked to find out that there really weren't any business centers. Uh, there wasn't even in fact a failed business center for, I mean no one had ever even started. But yet, uh, certainly down in Cincinnati perhaps, maybe you know, some of the folks at the Gehring center, uh, or up at the University of Toledo. And there are some incredible business center models out there. So hats off to Case Western Reserve. But what was kind of the founding mission? Was there an aha moment, like we should do that? And was it a, was it a, a tough pull, if you will, to get it founded in case or because of the business, uh, you know, kind of the, the strength of the alumni, was it, it was an easier lift in that regard.

Speaker C: Um, to share with you on the background in terms of the founding of the center. And this was before my time actually of when um, it got kicked, got off the ground. Our dean, Andrew Medvedev, I have a hard time with his last name, he came from Morgan Stanley, so had always a very external orientation to the business community. And my manager came from University of Pittsburgh where they did have a family business center. Mhm. So you have two people coming together who are very externally oriented. How do we connect more with what's happening out there in Northeast Ohio and decided to launch a family business center.

Speaker B: Um, probably a bit of the. Why don't we have one of these here?

Speaker C: Right, correct. Right. And just to give a bit of history, we had a professor here at Weatherhead School of management about 25 years ago. He was very invested in family businesses.

Speaker B: That would be Leon Danko.

Speaker C: Uh, no, he actually wasn't ours. It would be Ernesto Posa.

Speaker B: Okay, okay.

Speaker C: And you ran a program called, um, From Sons and daughters to CEOs.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: And this was a really well received program that families would sign up for, for months and they would go through this kind of as a, as a family, as a group, through this program. And even to this day I'll run into people in Cleveland who say I went through that program and it was so instrumental in our lives in Terms of a family business. So Ernesto had built this great kind of family business kind of following, but we never built a center around him. You know, it was really around Ernesto. And at one point he moved out west. And with that, our family business activities really kind of died down. So when the dean and my manager decided they want a family business center, they really wanted to create something that was going to live beyond any individual or, uh, you know, any person. They said, we want a center that's going to be here on the long term to work with these family businesses to help them go through their transitions. So it was a very different mindset when they actually said, this is the stake we want to put in the ground to move forward.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's great. Thank you for sharing. So the, uh. And that was how many years ago? I know you've been there for a short period of time, but how many years ago was that? Hi, this is Mark Dorman. Sorry for the interruption. I know you're listening to the Finish Big podcast and I'm excited to have you here. If in the event you have any questions, please head over to www.succession.plus us and where you can find out how to reach me. I'd love to hear from you. And now back to the show.

Speaker C: We kicked off about two and a half years ago and I joined exactly at that time. So they basically did the legwork and trying to get us started. Um, brought in a consultant to help us get going. And then I was hired as the first, um, kind of director for the center. Mhm.

Speaker B: And if I, if you can share with me what was the kind of the opening kickoff? Did you have an event? Did you kind of scour your alumni? Um, how did that go?

Speaker C: Our first kind of opening kickoff was really a program. I mean, and that's really what we're about. We're about providing, um, great educational opportunities to our family businesses. Our first speaker was Joe Astrakhan. Um, Joe is famous in the industry. If you've heard the statistics, about 30% of family businesses survive through the second generation, around 13% through the third and about 3% through the fourth. That data was originally his research. So Joe's data is probably cited more than any other data in the whole family business industry. Um, it has been revalidated since then. He's had additional research that's come out, but, um, we still quote those old numbers, to be quite honest. So he was our first speaker. He talked about secession planning, and I always remember the quote that he shared in the room. And this Is why I think our programs are so insightful for our family businesses. He said, no matter how much money you make as a family business, if you don't get a lawn, you won't survive. And it just really kind of goes to the fact about how important family dynamics are. Structure, communication, all those things to keep those families together. And so Joe really talked quite a bit about that. But, um, I know it's kind of back to your question of what's our founding event. It wasn't anything kind of unusual. We did obviously leverage and get the word out to our alumni. Our advisory committee is extremely well connected into the family business community. Um, and they brought all their contacts. So it was a great kind of launch of, you know, the center.

Speaker B: Well, that would be uh, a very, very topical and impactful first, uh, first program for sure. It'd be tough act to follow, I guess, in that regard. The old shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves and three or four generations. Um, as far as the targets, uh, you obviously, uh, you know, have a soft spot for your alumni, But I'm sure this goes well beyond, uh, case alumni, uh, and other companies can join. Family businesses can join. Uh, you know, I've always been of the opinion that, uh, you may not work with your brothers and sisters, but every business to a degree is a family business because, uh, it's what's talked about a lot between husbands and wives. Uh, maybe not often enough as we. That should be stated. Um, but who's your target audience? Maybe what size of companies, et cetera?

Speaker C: Sure. Again, surprisingly, to your kind of point mark on alumni, very few of the family businesses engaged with us are alumni.

Speaker B: Wow. Okay, that is surprising.

Speaker C: I truly am very externally oriented. Um, obviously we try to pull in our alumni as best we can, but our target would be what I would call mid market, multi generational family businesses. And when I say mid market, I would say anywhere from maybe 3 to 4 million annual revenue. Up to about a billion.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: And our membership or the families that are engaged with us on a regular basis, you know, pretty much cover the gamut of that. I have very small ones, I have very large ones. But the thing they all have in common is that they're multi generational.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: So and that to me is the most important defining characteristic for, for them because what we talk about things like secession and governance and evolving the business, those matter when you're at least a first generation moving to your second generation or your third, fourth, fifth generation along the lines. So, um, to me that's kind of that most important Kind of defining characteristic. And we cover all industries. Um, so we have service, we have product, we have manufacturing. We really do have a good, um, balance across the region.

Speaker B: Yeah. And as you and I know and many the people listening today, I mean, that swath of mid market, that three to a billion, I mean, is there any bigger pathway in the world? Uh, but my goodness, the companies, the level of sophistication, the governance, the systems, how their management, uh, you get people living, you know, smaller companies that are very entrepreneurial minded, kind of running it out of their checkbook, so to speak, all the way to boards of directors, et cetera. So how do you cater to such a diverse membership? Uh, and uh, I mean, do you can kind of further segment that in your own mind at least?

Speaker C: You know, surprisingly the issues aren't that different. M. And I'm kind of going to jump into one of the things we do, which is pure forms. And this is where we bring together like generations from across businesses. And they meet every other month in confidential facilitated, um, meetings. But basically when I'm in these groups and I'll have maybe a $3 million business with an $800 million business, you know, if it's the next generation, they're still talking about the same thing.

Speaker B: You know, that's true.

Speaker C: That's not giving me, you know, more autonomy or more leadership opportunities or, you know, how did you get, you know, your dad to develop your secession plan? Because he's not working with me on mine. So it's really interesting how the things that are on their mind aren't that different. Now granted, some of them have much more formalized infrastructures, you know, family councils, board of directors, capital structures.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: So as you get. Yeah, more complex, more family members, more generations, you know, yeah, things take a different turn, but at the heart of it, it's still about relationships. It's how, you know, what's my role, what's the family's role and how do we interact. That comes across regardless of the size.

Speaker B: Yeah. Uh, thank you for sharing that because, uh, for about 10 years I facilitated peer to peer advisory boards through the Alternative Board, which is based out of Denver. And we had about 45 member companies. And uh, when we were courting or recruiting a new member, they said, well, what possibly would I have in common with candy manufacturer if I happen to be running an accounting firm? And uh, said, well, here's my candy manufacturer's major issues. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And he goes, you know, he or she would say, well, those sound exactly like the same issues that I'm facing. Right. So business is business, uh, depend, you know, it's. The issues are agnostic to your point. Right, right. Um, so I, that, that's, that's excellent. So, uh, walk us through some of the programming, uh, goals, missions of the center, uh, you know, where I, where you're at today, you know, not, we don't want to get into specifics, but um, I think there's such an incredible opportunity. Cleveland and Northeast Ohio is just woven thick with successful family businesses that are searching for answers. So you've got kind of a field of plenty from a recruiting standpoint. Uh, but give us a look at kind of what's uh, 2026 programming might look like and where you see yourself maybe three to five years from now. This sounds like a strategic planning session, doesn't it?

Speaker C: There you go.

Speaker B: So right up your alley.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. So, um, yeah, just to go back and restate what you shared at the beginning. Our mission is to really connect and equip m multigenerational family businesses to thrive not only today, but for generations to come. And you know, as we talked kind of around this, you know, we do three things. One is we provide educational programming. Two is we do the peer forums and then three, networking or that community is a part of everything we do.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker C: So to talk a bit more on your question of educational programming, I really describe this in two ways. So we have four programs a year where we bring in a family business expert like the Joe Astrakhan that I just described, who's really showing data or research in terms of what's best practice along a particular topic. And these are more like, like three hour workshops where we really sit down and work through a topic and the family actually leaves with tools and, you know, things to actually go implement hopefully in their business. And it's really up, uh, to each family business to apply what makes sense to them. We're just trying to share with them what's best practice and try to push the envelope with them. But it's up to them in terms of what makes sense. So that's one group of programs that we do. Um, a second group of programs we do is what I call company chats. And this is where we bring in, um, iconic. It could be local, could be national family businesses to talk about their story. Because there's still a lot of learning that happens from family businesses that have been around and very successful or around for many generations. Um, and this is where we've brought in speakers from Tabasco last week. We just Had Chick Fil A in um, in a few months we're going to have Jim Rooney, who's third generation from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: He was also a graduate from Case Western Reserve University. So I had to fit um, a local tie here to us in Cleveland.

Speaker B: It's a shameless plug, Laura.

Speaker C: Yeah, I know. So, um, so yeah, there's just so many great business stories or family business stories that we have to tell. And so we tried to kind of inter mix those two types of programs. The longer format, really kind of more workshop based with you know, more of a lighter lunch or breakfast, um, program where we just kind of hear someone else's family story.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Ah.

Speaker B: And, and this is a dues paying organization, I presume. Uh, I could bring a guest if I'm a member. I could maybe attend as a non member and check it out. Would that be accurate?

Speaker C: Um, family businesses are always welcome to try us out the first time as our guest.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker C: So um, and yes Mark, if you were going to come with them, you're welcome to come as their guest too. So we really tried to keep our audience focused at them on being family businesses to the extent we can because obviously they're there to network with each other and wanting to build that community. So some of our events are open to the public. You know, like um, the one we just did with Chick Fil A Jim Rooney. Those, anyone could come to those programs. The workshops where we bring in the family business experts. We're much more kind of selective in keeping those to just family businesses. M. Because those are really family business discussion issues.

Speaker B: Mhm. Mhm. And just for our audience, I mean, you know, family business, uh, I defined it one way. Everyone's got their own definition. But how does the Case Family Business center define it? I mean, I can imagine, but I'd like to hear it straight from the executive, uh, director.

Speaker C: Sure. So for me a family business is someone that's at least moving from the first to the second generation. I mean there's a slew of family businesses out there which I would call more like mom and pop, who are just not planning to transition on or still trying to figure out their own business model of how just to make a profit and survive. That's not the right kind of target market for us. So to me a family business is someone that's at least transitioning uh, to the second or further on generation, multi, generational. And then we define our geography as Northeast Ohio.

Speaker B: Excellent, Excellent. One of the things I'd like to explore with you, uh, Is maybe you and I and Chris Goble have a coffee, uh, and have you present to uh, kind of our index of family businesses that I would work, uh, where we have an event to uh, be a value add, uh, for us, but to hear from you, uh, and really I think create some interesting synergies. So uh, let's make sure we connect on that. Um, we talked about programming for up and coming programming. So you've got kind of these, these business experts for programs a year. You've got your uh, every other month what I would call peer to peer advisory boards. Right. Where there's a lot of sharing. You've got your family chats. Is that where you kind of almost like a family business showcase, uh, where maybe you're interviewing and you're learning something like you know, in this type of format about a particular member and people can chime in. Do I have that format correct or is it different?

Speaker C: The company chats like the one we just did with Chick Fil A? Um, usually it's been a part presentation, part panel, part Q and A. Gotcha.

Speaker B: Yeah, gotcha. Okay, um, and uh, what in terms of talk to us? I was on your website, uh, uh, and I've got some terrific expert I'd love to just share with you because I think it would help your community. I've been uh, really gotten involved with the Gehring center, uh, down in Cincinnati. Uh, why? I mean, because I've got two kids that live down there and a granddaughter. So it's a good excuse uh, to go down there. It doesn't take much of an arm twist. Uh, but some of the programming has been very, very impactful uh, at these family business centers. And I think uh, this great transition of wealth as you and I, we share that passion. Not so much the wealth transition, but the passing of the baton inside these businesses. What do you see? You know, you talked about profitability and the comment from your expert. But if you're not, the family dynamics aren't and the family harmony is not there. Go a little bit deeper there. What are some of the big issues that you see, uh, that continuously bubble up from some of your members and or others that you've just came uh, across in your travels.

Speaker C: Sure. So the one issue that never goes away is secession planning. And it always amazes me when you talk to family businesses. They want to pass on their business, but only about a third of them have a written and well communicated succession plan. So we constantly talk about that. That's a topic we typically bring on our agenda. Every year, in terms of our speakers, um, we always try to hit another big issue of family conflict. Whether it's communication, deconstructing conflict. Um, that was one of our deep dive programs last year and I thought.

Speaker B: Deconstructing conflict.

Speaker C: Deconstructing conflict. And this was a really interesting data

Speaker B: as opposed to my brother and I. Escalating conflict.

Speaker C: Escalating it, yes. It's very important. But um, he showed some research that said if you ask family businesses what they think is the biggest risk to their family's wealth, the top two answers, which represent about 2/3, is my mix of assets and the economic climate. In actuality, if you look at the data, the biggest risk to family wealth comes out about 60%. So very comparable is family dynamics, family conflict. Mhm. Once again, showing our families tend to have a bias, thinking it's, it's outside of me, it's out of my control.

Speaker B: Correct. Family relationship, it's the market, it's Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: So that is another issue that we constantly, um, talk through with our families. Next gen development is the other one. Now how do I get that next generation prepared for these leadership positions? So we spend quite a bit of time talking about, um, you know, either training or. I'm going to give you an example from another program we just had. It was called Missing Mortals of Family Business Leaders. And it was interesting because we create these myths of the founder potentially how amazing they were. They did everything right, they grew the company, but yet it makes it very difficult for subsequent generations to follow in those footsteps.

Speaker B: So the name of the program is Myth, as in mythological.

Speaker C: Yes, it was called Myths and Mortals.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And uh, we brought in an author and researcher on this particular space who's looked at all these iconic family business leaders and said what happened to the generations following them and finding how difficult it was for these next generations to find their own leadership voice. And so it's important if you're leading a family business to make sure that you're sharing both their strengths and their weaknesses.

Speaker B: Yeah. And then mistakes they've, they've uh, they've made along the way and the times they've had to, you know, kind of, you know, learn over, start over, pull themselves up. Right. And become vulnerable. Become vulnerable with that next generation.

Speaker C: Right, absolutely. And hearing stories like this mark, is so important to these folks that are in their 20s and 30s.

Speaker B: That's excellent.

Speaker C: Still trying to figuring out their path. Do I even want to be in the family business?

Speaker B: Yeah. Ah.

Speaker C: You know, and we've had many in that age group come through and I hear them in pure forums saying, I'm not sure I want to do dad's widget. But when they start to hear conversations like that and I have to throw in another data point just because I'm a data person from my consulting background. We had a professor come in from Columbia University and she shared information that 90% of family businesses own more than one business, 20% own five or more, and on average they've changed industries 2.7 times.

Speaker B: Wow. So that is incredible.

Speaker C: It is, but it gives these young folks an opportunity to say, wow, maybe I don't like dad's widget, maybe I'll manage our real estate.

Speaker B: Correct.

Speaker C: It gives them opportunities to find a niche that fits with them. So they're still part of the family business. Because our hope as a center is that the family business will continue on and thrive because we know there's benefits but back to the community as well as obviously to the family. Um, but it gives them more opportunities to figure out that path for them. So that's why I think these programs where we bring in this, these experts are so important for family businesses to hear. Because you know, when they're quoting numbers like hm, a third of you or 2/3 of you do not have a succession plan, then they're like do I, do we have our secession plan in place?

Speaker B: Must be, must be talking about you.

Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. So, so that's kind of that, the importance of that family business expert kind of aspect that we do.

Speaker B: Wow, that's great. Uh, so that, that whole survive and adapt, um, as you said that I'm thinking, well maybe it's not the business adapts the core business, of course you want it to survive and adapt, but it's also the adaptation, if you will, of the next generation leader. And maybe they're using the platform, family business to spider off into something else. Correct. And uh, and they're learning from kind uh, of the life cycle of the founder if they will. Right. So I've often wondered, you know, the younger generation looks at their 65 year old mom or dad and go well they never made mistakes. And when I sit with the 65 year old mom and dad, I'm just happy and lucky to be here. I made so many mistakes, I really don't know what I'm doing still. And I'm learning. So you know, and it's like have you ever shared that with your kids? Right. So it's that, it's that mutual openness. Right. The dynamic is everything in family business. Right.

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker B: This has been great, believe it or not. Our time is up. Uh, so, Laura Bonnet, we really appreciate you, uh, joining us today. Uh, our guest today, uh, has been Laura Bonnet, the founding director of the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, uh, Center for Family Business. Am I saying that correctly, Laura?

Speaker C: Absolutely, yes.

Speaker B: Great. Great. And, uh, how would someone get a hold of you or learn more about the Case Western Reserve center for Family Business?

Speaker C: The easiest way just to kind of Google us, I would say Family Business Center, Case Western, and we'll pop up with that. Um, and then my contact information is all over that website. We also have a LinkedIn page, um, for the Weatherhead School of Management center for Family Business. Uh, we have all of our upcoming programs listed on either kind of site, website or LinkedIn. So that's a great way to connect.

Speaker B: That's great. That's great. Uh, this has been your host, Mark Dorman, the host of the Finish Big, uh, podcast. I want to, uh, shout out our sponsors, Succession plus usa, my good buddy Chris Goble, uh, if you're interested in, uh, helping have that succession planning discussion with a true professional who grew up in a family business. Chris is one of the best in the business. And then I also want to shout out my good buddy Mike Carter, who founded Biz Equity, the nation's largest business valuation, uh, platform, uh, and his new venture, EMG AI, the Entrepreneurs Management Group, where there are artificial intelligence agents out there by the name of Benjamin Franklin, the nation's first entrepreneur, to help guide your path from, uh, the beginning, uh, to your exit on your business. So, until we meet again, ladies and gentlemen, our guest today, Laura Bonnet, founding director of the Case Western Reserve center for Family Business. Have a great day and here's to Finishing Big. Thank you.

Speaker A: Hope you enjoyed listening to Finish Big, the podcast with Mark Dorman, sponsored by Succession Plus. Don't forget to click the follow button to be notified when new episodes become available. Visit our website at www.succession.plus us or give us a call at 330-350-5410. The information covered and posted represents the views and opinions of the guests and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Succession Plus. The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. The content content is not intended to be a substitute for professional tax or legal advice. Always seek the advice of your legal or tax professionals with any questions you may have regarding your specific situation.