Family Business Director

May 6, 2019 Taxes Valuation

Five Takeaways for Family Business Directors from Kress v. U.S.

A recent federal court decision in a tax dispute represented a significant victory for family business shareholders.  The case (Kress v. U.S.) revolved around the value of a multi-generation family business, Green Bay Packaging (“GBP”). While we generally think family business directors have more important things to think about than tax-related judicial decisions, the Kress decision is one with which family business directors should be familiar.  In this post, we identify five important takeaways for family business directors from Kress.

April 29, 2019 Capital Budgeting

Three Questions to Consider Before Undertaking a Capital Project

Capital budgeting tools are ideal for answering the question: Is the proposed capital project financially feasible?  Too often, however, we see these tools being used to answer what seems to be a related question, but one that the tools are simply not designed to answer: Should we undertake the proposed capital project?  The first question opens the door to the second, but the tools of capital budgeting – no matter how sophisticated or quantitatively precise – cannot answer the second.  To answer the second question, family business directors need to consider three qualitative questions identified in this post.

April 22, 2019 Performance Measurement

Basics of Financial Statement Analysis

Part 4: Telling the Company’s Story

This post is the fourth installment from our Basics of Financial Statement Analysis whitepaper.  In this series of posts, our goal is to help readers develop an understanding of the basic contours of the three principal financial statements. The balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows are each indispensable components of the “story” that the financial statements tell about a company.

April 15, 2019 Special Topics

Family Business Industry Spotlight: Beverage Wholesalers

This week’s post is the first in a periodic series of “Family Business Industry Spotlights.”  In these posts, we will share conversations with our family business advisory professionals who have deep experience working with family businesses in a particular industry.  We think the conversations promise to be of interest to family business directors regardless of their industry.  This week, we talk with Tim Lee about the challenges and industry trends facing families in the beverage wholesaling industry.

April 8, 2019 Shareholder Engagement

Investor Relations for Family Businesses

An Informed and Engaged Shareholder Base is a Strategic Advantage

Family Business Director was in sunny Tampa last week at the spring edition of the Transitions Conference produced by Family Business Magazine. The sessions offered fresh insights on perennial challenges around succession planning, conflict management, and communication.  But the recurring – if not underlying – theme that impressed us was the challenge of shareholder engagement. 

April 1, 2019 Shareholder Engagement

What Does Your Family Business Mean to Your Family?

The meaning of a family business is a function of both family and business characteristics. In turn, it influences the dividend policy, investing, and financing decisions of the company. In this week’s post, we will identify the four potential meanings and correlate family & business characteristics with those meanings.

March 28, 2019 Special Topics

Mercer Capital Attending and Sponsoring the 2019 Transitions Spring Conference

The 2019 Transitions Spring Conference will be held next week, April 3-5, in Tampa Bay, Florida. Travis Harms, senior vice president and leader of Mercer Capital’s Family Business Advisory practice, will be attending the conference.

March 25, 2019 Performance Measurement

Basics of Financial Statement Analysis

Part 3: The Statement of Cash Flows

This post is the third of four installments from our Basics of Financial Statement Analysis whitepaper.  In this series of posts, our goal is to help readers develop an understanding of the basic contours of the three principal financial statements. The balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows are each indispensable components of the “story” that the financial statements tell about a company.  This week, we focus on the statement of cash flows.

March 18, 2019 Special Topics

Q&A: Five Questions with Dan Hatzenbuehler

From time to time, Family Business Director will interview family business leaders or experienced advisors to get their perspective on important questions common to family businesses.  In this first installment, we talk with Dan Hatzenbuehler, the retired Chairman and CEO of E. Ritter & Company.  Dan offers great insight that we know our readers will profit from.

March 11, 2019 Shareholder Engagement

The Financial Costs of Family Members Behaving Badly

The ongoing drama surrounding the behavior of Papa John’s founder John Schnatter has been a mainstay of the financial press over the past fifteen months. So what is the takeaway for family business directors from the Papa John’s saga? The most important lesson is this: the bad actions of family shareholders can have significant financial repercussions for the family business, and by extension, all the family shareholders.