Family business directors are best served by assessing financial performance on both an absolute and a relative basis. Absolute financial performance can simply be read off the face of the financial statements, but making appropriate relative comparisons requires reliable data on similarly situated firms.

Benchmarking data typically focuses on financial performance but provides little perspective on the strategic financial decisions that can have a major influence on the sustainability of the family business.

Family business directors generally have little perspective on how other companies handle certain items like capital allocation, capital structure, and dividend policy. With the release of our 2025 Family Business Benchmarking Study, we aim to fill that gap.

For prior studies, we have sifted through the mountains of data available for public companies to draw performance insights for family businesses.

This year, we opted to cull through our internal accumulation of client data to draw inferences from the performance of actual family businesses. What is necessarily lost in sheer quantity of data is — we hope — made up for in enhanced comparability to our readers’ businesses.

This study, using 2024 data, begins with the principal findings from the full data set, followed by an overview of the 2024 U.S. macroeconomic environment to provide context. It then examines key financial areas relevant to family businesses: cash reserves, debt positions, capital investment strategy, revenue growth, margin analysis, and shareholder distribution policies.

Each section includes both data analysis and insights to help family business directors interpret the findings and apply them to strategic decisions.

We hope you find the study valuable. Download your complimentary copy below.

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