Family Business Director

Corporate Finance & Planning Insights for Multi-Generational Family Businesses

Special Topics

Jeweler to the 0.1%

The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire, by Francesca Cartier Brickell

In this week’s post we discuss, The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire written by Francesca Cartier Brickell.

Planning & Strategy

When Is Our Next Turning Point Breakfast?

Is Your Closely Held or Family Business at a Turning Point and Do You Need to Talk?

In this post, Chris Mercer discusses a very important breakfast he had some time ago with a client and friend who is second-generation chairman, CEO, and lead family member of a very successful, third-generation family business. That breakfast served as a turning point for him and his business and the family.

Planning & Strategy

Selling Your Family Business

When M&A markets are robust, as they are now, we find that some families start to think about selling the family business. There’s a good chance that families contemplating a sale have never sold a business before, and may not know quite what to expect. In this week’s post, we provide a brief overview of the steps involved in selling a business.

Shareholder Engagement

How to Communicate Financial Results to Family Shareholders (Part 2)

Everyone agrees that communication promotes positive shareholder engagement, but what does it look like to communicate financial results effectively?  In this series of posts, we offer practical suggestions for presenting key financial data in ways that family shareholders find useful.  In the last post, we focused on the balance sheet; this week, we turn our attention to the income statement.

Special Topics

Credit Market Outlook: 2020

Regardless of how much debt a family business operates with, access to credit when it is needed is essential.  In this week’s post, Andy Gibbs describes the key factors affecting banks’ willingness to loan money to family businesses, and provides an overview of what the credit outlook looks like for 2020.

Special Topics

Family Business Director’s Reading List for 2020

Listing the best books one has read over the preceding twelve months is commonplace.  Family Business Director eschews the humble-bragging endemic to such lists.  Instead, we offer a list of four books that we plan to read in 2020.  We confess to reading far more book reviews than actual books, and we selected these books, in large measure, on the basis of generally glowing reviews.  Upon completing each book, we will report back in future posts with our own impressions and takeaways for family business directors.

Planning & Strategy

Making It Through December

While its status as a Christmas song is perhaps debatable, Merle Haggard’s “If We Make It Through December” is classic country music at its finest.  The song captures the pathos of economic distress, with the recently-downsized protagonist lamenting his inability to provide the Christmas he wants for his daughter. Although we suspect Mr. Haggard was not writing in this direction, the song has always made Family Business Director think about breakeven analysis.  As the year draws to a close, family business directors naturally evaluate the firm’s profitability over the course of the year.  For some, profitability was assured months ago.  For others, it remains uncertain whether they will make it through December without incurring a loss for the year.

Consulting Services

Family Business Advisory Services

Mercer Capital provides financial education services and other strategic financial consulting to family businesses