5 Reasons Your Children Should Not Inherit Your Business

There are a number of very good reasons why your children should not inherit your business

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By Daniel Scott

There are some astounding statistics surrounding family business succession. First, the average lifespan of a family-owned business is only 24 years, or roughly one generation. In addition, nearly 60 percent of family-owned businesses fail to make it to the second generation, while nearly 90 percent fail to make it to the third generation. Nearly half of the family-owned business failures were caused by the founder’s death, while only 16.4 percent of family-owned businesses failed after an orderly transition.