Did you know family businesses comprise 80-90% of all businesses in America? Family owned companies are responsible for 60% of total U.S. employment, 78% of all new jobs, and 65% of all wages paid. There are 1.2 million husband and wife teams running a family business. You know I love that. Let’s hear it for the family owned business!

Even though this is all wonderful, the truth is the average lifespan of a family owned business is 24 years. That may seem long to you, but it could be longer if there were certain issues that were taken into consideration earlier on. The truth is only 1/3 of all family businesses successfully make the transition to the second generation. A Pricewaterhous Cooper’s world wide survey of over 1600 family businesses found that 27% expect to change hands in the next five years, but 47% of those had no succession plan. So this begs the question….

What are your plans of succession?

This is definitely a process. Not something you wake up one day and decide, “Okay Junior, it’s all yours now.”

Most people think of transferring the financial portion, but what about the business philosophy, values, ideal clients, target market, and community involvement? Will the next generation be on board with that? And if they aren’t, do you care? What type of person do you want running your family owned company, which more than likely has your name attached to it?

In my coaching, interviewing and research, it has become abundantly clear that most of the family owned companies I talk to have no idea who will run the show when they decide to retire. Are you one of those? If so, take the time to consider getting these things in place:

• Consider who you are wanting to run the show for you – does their style reflect you and your company’s culture?
• Create a Strategic Business Plan – make sure your company has a sustainable business model that can be followed by new leadership?
• Create a Succession Plan
• Create an Estate Plan – not just a will
• How will the management of your company respond to your successor?

And the all important – what are you going to do when you pass the company on?

This of course is only the tip of the iceberg on this topic – but it gets you thinking. You don’t have to be Mrs. Field’s Cookies or any other large family owned company to be thinking of succession planning. Your family owned, couple owned business is just as important than any other company. You are in charge. Start putting the pieces in place to make sure your company goes on and you are properly compensated if you do pass it on.

This is point number four given in the recent blog post by Lauren Stiller Rikleen, president of the Rikleen Institute for Strategic Leadership titled: Eight Lessons Millennial Women Can Learn From Elizabeth Taylor. You can read the entire list here.

I have to admit, I was a little sad when I heard the news of her passing. Not really being a fan of her film career, I was a bit young, I was always a fan of what she was up to. Intrigued early on, probably because my mother loved watching her, I was more intrigued with how she seemed to be everywhere. And I wasn’t wrong. I was on the treadmill this weekend and listening to various talk show hosts speculate how much her estate is worth. Capitalizing on her star power, Elizabeth Taylor literally still has money coming in the door from real estate she owns, perfume sales and jewelry collections that are still very popular. Who can forget the early White Diamonds commercials? And the one fragrance that was always in a stunningly beautiful purple bottle. My mom always bought that one. It made her feel special.

And there is the connection that I am talking about. Not only did she make a lot of money with multiple streams of income, but she made connections. I truly believe that is the only way you will succeed in business, and in life. Whatever road you are traveling on, whatever path you choose to take in your career, focus on the connections you will make, and how they can help sustain not only your business, but your life.

I know I will.

One in particular that I recommend is Kikolani.com by Kristi Hines. She is full of wonderful information, tips, tricks and how tos on making your blog a success, as well as some great business tips.

I especially enjoyed her post, which oddly enough was a guest post, on how to get through writers block. I hope you find this as helpful as I did.

For those of you that watch the show “Survivor”, you understand the importance of forming alliances with others to further your objective. This is no different in the business world as well. Often overlooked, or simply just not part of the plan, alliances can be a great asset to you and your company. Think about who you currently do business with, who is a great source of referrals with you already, and go from there.

Set up a meeting with people you already know, like and trust. See if they want to be in the inner circle.

Schedule regular “check ins” to make sure you are all on the same page promoting each other. Make sure you are all aware of any new services, tips or advice you are able to offer your clients.

For those of you that are purely online, a great article was posted on the Social Media Examiner today about creating these same kind of relationships online, and how to do it. Click here to read more about that.

Above all, understand the importance of many voices in unison being stronger than just your one. You don’t want to get booted off the island just when it is getting good.
Your tribe has spoken.

Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: Non-Boring, Fluff-Free Strategies for Marketing and Promoting Your Business, is officially on sale (everywhere books are sold).

Why is this book great? He has captured what it takes for the small business owner to be successful, establish a following, get more clients and be known in their niche as the best. This book is full of fabulous advice for any small business owner.

I suggest you get to reading.

Read more: http://blog.therisetothetop.com/2010/12/smarter-faster-cheaper-launches-today/#ixzz17Yw8bYex

This was sort of shocking, at least to me:

I was talking to a religious leader, someone who runs a congregation. She made it clear to me that on many days, it’s just a job. A job like any other, you show up, you go through the motions, you get paid.

I guess we find this disturbing because spiritual work should be real, not faked.

But isn’t your work spiritual?

I know doctors, lawyers, waiters and insurance brokers who are honestly and truly passionate about what they do. They view it as an art form, a calling, and an important (no, an essential) thing worth doing.

In fact, I don’t think there’s a relationship between what you do and how important you think the work is. I think there’s a relationship between who you are and how important you think the work is.

Life’s too short to phone it in.

It is interesting that he points this out. I myself have had those days where I felt like it was just a job. That was when I knew I had to change my focus. I consider myself to have career ADD. Was never happy with the things I was doing. I always knew I was capable of much more. My husband, on more than one occasion, has asked me “If money were not an object, what would you do all day?”

My answer has changed over the years, and has finally evolved in what I am today, but where are you on this path? Are you phoning it in or are you really passionate about what you do? If you used to be, what has changed? What can YOU change to get back to that passion?

I just thought I would blog on this. I have my days of wanting to phone it in – I think everyone does. But when that happens, I will remember this post and look to find where my passion went. I hope you do too.