Client stories
What families say about the work
Testimonials and one extended succession note from family-owned businesses we have advised.
“They slowed us down just enough that my brother and I could name what we each wanted from the company — before we locked in a succession date that would have split us.”Leadership succession advisory
“Our family council had become a polite dinner argument. The charter sessions were awkward at first — my father nearly walked out once — but we left with rules we still use at every quarterly meeting.”Family council & charter
“I was the designated successor on paper and still felt like a guest in the boardroom. The readiness work was practical: shadowing ops, presenting one P&L review myself, and a clear list of what I was not ready for yet.”Next-generation readiness
“Useful, though I wished we had started a year earlier. By the time we called, two cousins had already dug into opposing camps. The advisory still held the room — it just took longer to get everyone listening.”Ownership transition planning
Extended note: a Waikato succession timeline
A second-generation engineering firm approached us after the founder announced, at a Christmas lunch, that he would retire within eighteen months. Two adult children worked in the business; a third held shares but lived overseas. No written succession plan existed beyond a verbal preference for the eldest to “take the reins.”
Over twelve weeks we facilitated separate readiness conversations with each sibling, mapped the founder’s actual weekly decisions, and drafted a staged hand-over: operations first, client relationships second, and board chair last. The overseas shareholder joined two video sessions and agreed a buy-sell mechanism tied to an independent valuation.
The eldest did become managing director — but only after a six-month trial period with explicit review criteria that the family had written together. The founder remains a non-executive director. Disagreements still surface; they now have a forum and a process rather than a Christmas lunch.