Employment
Does the person want a job, and is there a real role the business needs?
Family business conversation planner
Talk about the business before anyone is promised the business.
A child can work in the company without being ready to lead it. A child can own part of it without working there. Those are different decisions.
Five simple choices. No valuation, promises, or private documents.Build a family business conversation
Separate the family from the job.
Your plan separates working in, leading, owning, and inheriting the business before anyone makes a promise.
No valuation. No succession recommendation. No email gate.
Four separate questions
Do not use one promise to answer four decisions.
Families get stuck when a job, a leadership title, ownership, and inheritance are treated as the same reward.
Leadership
Can the person make decisions, lead people, and be held accountable?
Ownership
Who receives value, voting power, distributions, and financial risk?
Inheritance
How does the business fit with property, investments, insurance, and other family wealth?
Why this conversation matters
A succession document cannot replace family understanding.
PwC’s 2025 U.S. Family Business Survey reports that succession planning affected 44% of U.S. family firms in the prior year. A transition touches the owner, family, employees, customers, taxes, and household wealth.
Read the PwC survey- Educational meeting plan
- No valuation or successor selection
- Professional questions shown separately