Helping local, family-run businesses thrive 

News Desk
Authored by News Desk
Posted Monday, January 17, 2022 - 10:31pm

A young, female entrepreneur, who recently took over the family business from her Mum, has launched a programme to help other youngsters prepare for running their family business. 

The South West is home to thousands of family-run businesses. In fact 92.1% of ALL private firms here are family-owned - the highest concentration in the country. Chances are, most people reading this article are part of a family business or work with one on a regular basis.

When you say ‘family business’ it conjures up images of personal service, quality and trustworthiness. Cider makers, farm shops, funeral directors, hotel owners. Family firms provide hundreds of thousands of jobs to industries across the South West. 

But, Amalia Brightley-Gillott, 35 from Tiverton realised that taking over the leadership of your parents’ company isn’t as simple as just coming to work one day and sitting at your Dad or Mum’s desk. In fact, if you’re a fan of HBO’s hit show, Succession, you’ll know that stepping into Mum or Dad’s shoes can be fraught with family arguments and tension. 

Sadly, the statistics are grim - only 30% make it from first to second generation and only 12% make it to the third generation and beyond. The main reason being a lack of planning for the future. 

That’s why Amalia decided to use her own experience and launch The 90-Day Succession Blueprint Builder. Making it simple and affordable for small family businesses in the South West to prepare their next generation to take over. 

Amalia says: “Like many people, I assumed that Succession Planning was all about handing down shares and other financial things. But actually my Mum and I discovered that’s the LAST thing to talk about. 

Before that you need to sit down as a family and have a real conversation about what everyone wants - when do Mum and Dad want to retire? Are their kids ready to take on the day-to-day leadership? What action steps need to be taken to make succession happen? What matters most to each person? What makes people happy?

If you don’t spend some time talking about these things honestly with your family members then you risk everything falling apart.”

Amalia’s new programme, The 90-Day Succession Blueprint Builder, gives family businesses the chance to create a framework that everyone can follow. 

“When we were looking for help with succession, everything was so complicated and expensive for a small business like us. But it doesn’t need to be. I decided to use my own experience and help the next generation create a step-by-step blueprint for the day their parents retire and they take over the helm. Whilst at the same time building their confidence to step out of their parents’ shadow and become a brilliant leader in their own right.”

Amalia was particularly keen to launch the programme because she has met lots of families who really struggled with succession and ended up falling out as a family. She says the parents felt unappreciated and like they were being forced out. And their children were left frustrated because their parents would never talk about the future. 

“I’ve learnt that so many family firms bury their heads in the sand when it comes to talking about the future. It becomes the elephant in the room! It’s just not worth damaging your family relationships. As soon as you start exploring all the options and make it a positive experience for everyone, it can be a really energising thing for the whole company.”

Amalia’s top tips for getting started with succession planning: 

  1. Find some time together as a family, away from the business, to have a chat about what everyone wants for the future. 

  2. Make time in your diary to focus exclusively on creating your succession plan. Even if it’s only a few hours once a month. Treat it the same as you would a marketing or sales strategy. 

  3. Always be honest with each other. Sometimes we skirt around what we really want to say for fear of upsetting our family. But if you’re not honest, none of this will work. 

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