Hiring Outsiders to Run Family Owned Businesses

www.gmb.com.ph

I just read a nice column by Henry Hutcheson that ran in the Charlotte Observer, looking at when it is appropriate to hire an outsider to run a family owned business.

Hutcheson knows his stuff; he runs his own website that provides advice to family owned companies and his a member of the family that owns the Olan Mills photography business.

The column shares a number of useful tips that family members should consider before bringing on an outside executive:

• Hold a family meeting to discuss the potential hiring
• Reach an understanding on the type of individual who would best fit with the business ... and the family
• Accept that it will cost more to hire an outsider
• The goal for hiring an outsider: boost business in the near term and buy time to weigh options (including a sale) in the long term

Again, you can read the entire column here.