Dirty Little Secrets of Family Business (3rd Edition)

Ensuring Success from One Generation to the Next

Henry Hutcheson
If approximately 70 percent of all businesses are family businesses, and two out of three don’t survive to the next generation, what can you do to make sure your business will survive and thrive?

Dirty Little Secrets of Family Business comes clean with much-needed info on nitty-gritty issues, such as entitlement, letting employees (even family members) go when they just aren’t working out, compensation, including your kids in the business (when to bring them in, help them move up, and prep them to take over), shareholder agreements, selecting the next leader, deciding whether to keep the business or sell it, exit strategies for outgoing leaders, money matters, succession planning, communication, conflict resolution, establishing an effective board, and transitioning to the next generation. Readers can apply the numerous ideas and tips in this engaging guide to address any family business situation.

Written for current and next-generation owners and utilizing multiple, firsthand stories of family business dos and don’ts, Dirty Little Secrets of Family Business gives you the top success strategies that you can use to build a better functioning family business.

​Acknowledging that every family is unique and a cookie-cutter approach is not the answer, experienced family business consultant Henry Hutcheson presents a deeper look at the underlying mechanics of what makes a family business work.

Henry Hutcheson is a Certified Management Consultant® and the founder and president of Family Business USA. He specializes in helping family businesses and privately held businesses improve business operations, prepare for transition, secure wealth, and strengthen family relationships. With over twenty-five years of business management and family business consulting experience, he has successfully helped families across the United States and internationally and in a broad range of industries. While his focus is on succession, his work entails managing conflict and enhancing communication, planning and preparing the family and business for a smooth transition to the next generation, grooming the next generation as high-performance leaders, and working with the existing generation to define their role going forward.

Henry is a frequent speaker at professional, university, and corporate-sponsored events and is the current family business columnist for the national magazine Nursery Retailer and the Columbia newspaper The State. He has written for Family Business Magazine and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and Crain’s, as well as in various business and trade magazines across the country.