How to Build a Multigenerational Family Business – in Just 7 Minutes with Mitzi Perdue

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I have written recently and co-authored a book with Mark Victor Hansen, the 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' guy. And if you will go to www.auntmitzi.com, I have several free chapters of the book that we wrote together 'How to be UP in Down Times'

Summary:

Author, speaker, and businesswoman Mitzi Perdue holds a BA with honors from Harvard University and an MPA from  George Washington University.  She is a past president of the 35,000-member American Agri-Women, and she’s the founder of CERES Farms. Mitzi combines the experiences of three long-time family businesses. 

Her father Ernest Henderson co-founded the Sheraton Hotel Chain and her late husband Frank Perdue was the second generation in the poultry company that today operates in more than 50 countries.

Recently she authored "How to Make Your Family Business Last, Techniques, Advice, Checklists, and Resources for Keeping the Family Business in the Family. The 46 years since the founding of Ceres Farms, she represents more than three centuries of family business history.

Here are the highlights of this episode:

2:51 Mitzi’s ideal Client: My ideal client is a family who is in a family business and who would really like to see the next generation not get screwed up. Because it's so easy for family businesses to not put their enough effort, and having their children grow up with values that will help support keeping the family business in the family.

3:26 Problem Mitzi helps solve: I have observed that every family that exists has a culture; but is one that came about by accident or is it one that came about by design? And the one's that came about by accident, they rarely support keeping the family business in the family. So, I help develop a culture that supports keeping the family strong and thriving.

4:19 Typical symptoms that clients do before reaching out to Mitzi: A high functioning family which is what we are all in for, is one where people enjoy being all together. They're partners, they're not torn apart by jealousy and ego. If your family is experiencing pain, my best advice to you is to get professional help before it gets worse. My second best advice is, if you're going to have outsiders to help you, have them committed to helping the whole family, not just one or two members. And what I mean by that is, families fall apart when a lawyer represents one family member against the interest of the whole family. So, don't do that.

5:19 What are some of the common mistakes that folks make before finding Mitzi and his solution: The biggest thing that they can do to help keep the family together is be very conscious of the culture you develop, including  teaching the kids from the youngest age that they can't always be right. How about teaching them that they are a part of something bigger than themselves, that they're stewards. If you don't do that, the average families aren't going to make it to the next generation. If you want a successful long-lasting family, you've got to consciously figure out the values that will get you there and I certainly recommend that you buy my books to help you learn.

6:19 Mitzi’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): This may sound off-brand but you know what really helps families? have you come across 'How to Win Friends and Influence People'? It tells you an enormous amount about human relations that shows you that you are part of something bigger than yourself that helps solve problems and prevent problems before they escape. Both the Henderson and the Perdue (family) regularly read a book that was written generations ago.

7:09 Mitzi’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): I have written recently and co-authored a book with Mark Victor Hansen, the 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' guy. And if you will go to auntmitzi.com, I have several free chapters of the book that we wrote together 'How to be UP in Down Times' and two of them you don't need to sign up or anything, it's just on the website that I designed for you. And there are five more that are free if you will be kind enough to download it. I will get your email and I can be in contact with you which I would love.

8:14 How do you go about and instilling a culture? I do think that culture is 'the answer' to having a long lasting family. There's a lot of research that shows that the families that have five or more meals together in a course of a week, their odds of being a high functioning thriving family are vastly better than the ones that having one meal a week together. So, heartfelt advice for you is spend all the time you can together as a family including having meals together.