About Don Schwerzler

Don Schwerzler is one of the world's leading family business experts. He is the founder of the Atlanta-based Family Business Institute and the Family Business Experts website; and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. Don Schwerzler began his career as a family business consultant in 1967 and founded the Family Business Institute in the mid 80s. The Atlanta-based Family Business Institute is nationally recognized for pioneering the multi-disciplinary consulting protocol that has proven highly successful in dealing with the unique and complex problems that confront and confound families in business together. If you have any questions about family business, you can ask him here.

Author Archive | Don Schwerzler

The Truth about Risk and Its Impact on Family Businesses

Contributed by Don Schwerzler on July 29, 2015 in Risk

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One problem we find in so many family businesses is their “risk management awareness,” notes Don Schwerzler, a family business master strategist. The owners are either unaware of potential problems or they understate the potential threat to their business. So many family business entrepreneurs are already working in a stressed environment, caused by the scarcity […]

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Building Consensus in Your Family Business

Contributed by Don Schwerzler on July 7, 2015 in Management & Leadership

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Building consensus about how the business should be operated, now and into the future, is one of the most difficult problems confronting family businesses. In a non-family business, the answer is rather simple and obvious: Develop and implement a strategic plan. In a family business, the process for building consensus is dramatically more complicated and […]

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Approaching Professional Intervention as a Process

Contributed by Don Schwerzler on June 29, 2015 in Management & Leadership, Organization, Change, & HR

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Professional intervention in a family business to resolve disputes is a smart strategy as the issues that confront a family in business together are difficult and complex. “A family business expert, who is experienced in dealing with family business dynamics, can be more objective to help grow the family business, to help maintain healthy family […]

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This Is a Major Issue for Family Business Owners: Asking for Help

Contributed by Don Schwerzler on June 8, 2015 in General

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There are a lot of stories about how men are reluctant to read the directions before starting to do an assembly or not asking for directions when they are lost! According to one study by an insurance firm in Britain, the average male driver travels about 276 extra miles a year because of not wanting […]

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Organizational Culture: A Blueprint for Success in a Family Business

Contributed by Don Schwerzler on May 27, 2015 in Organization, Change, & HR

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In looking at the organizational culture of a family business, we are assessing behaviors that are important to creating a strong effective staff and competent leadership. “Successful family businesses tend to have the family’s values and culture deeply embedded into their business strategies, policies and practices,” says leading family business expert Don Schwerzler. “How well the business […]

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Family Business Owners, Dream Big! But Also Consult a Finance Expert

Contributed by Don Schwerzler on May 19, 2015 in Management & Leadership

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“Many family business owners who come to us for help complain that they always have a scarcity of time and money,” according to leading family business expert Don Schwerzler. “In fact, that is why many family businesses never achieve their true potential. They get so caught up in the ‘tyranny of routine’ that they fail […]

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Responsibility Diffusion: A Critical Impediment When Growing a Family Business

Contributed by Don Schwerzler on May 14, 2015 in Management & Leadership

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“Responsibility diffusion is a critical impediment to successfully growing a family business. And, the larger the family business grows, the larger the problem becomes!” opines Don Schwerzler, an internationally recognized family business expert who has been studying and advising family business owners for more than 40 years. As a family business expert dealing with growth and profitability […]

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Succession Planning Obstacles and Guidelines in Family Business

Contributed by Don Schwerzler on April 17, 2015 in Management & Leadership

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You have to find the obstacles, then overcome them… fly over them, dig under them, outflank them to move around them. And it is often the ones that you didn’t see that cause you the biggest problems! Succession planning for family businesses is just like a physical obstacle course. Every family and family business situation […]

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About Don Schwerzler

Author Archive | Don Schwerzler

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