Family Farm

Jane owned and operated the family farm with the help of husband, Don and their 3 children. Jane had jointly then singly led the family business for over 30 years. During this time it had grown from a simple orchard into a successful gourmet condiments manufacturer.

Jane and Don had worked exceptionally hard on the farm while they were together and they’d pressed the kids to helping them at an early age. All 3 children joined the business straight from school and none had any significant external work experience. They were all bright, competent and seemingly happy individuals, content to work with Mum and their other staff… The 2 oldest children had families of their own while the youngest was unattached and had her own small property just a few kilometers away.

The youngest was the Sales Manager and integral to business plans, which relied on years of building a strong network of personal relationships with upmarket supermarkets and deli owners nationally and internationally. She took full advantage of being young, energetic, attractive and happy to travel and party.

As the youngest though – she’d always felt her brother and sister ganged up on her and her parents had never protected her from them. She felt they still ganged up on her as she was trying to drive the business on more quickly, and felt they were holding her back. She had serious anger management issues when it came to dealing with her family and after a series of out of control screaming sessions, she’d been excluded from the few, irregular management meetings that took place in the business. In effect, she performed her job inside a private bubble within the business and, partly because she did it so well, and partly because she was formidable full-flight, this had been accepted as the status quo…

Jane, in the space of a few months changed from being a delightful, if slightly scatty businesswoman, into a fractious, forgetful and totally unpredictable individual. She was diagnosed with rapid-onset dementia, with little prospect of a cure. Suddenly the business had a serious succession problem.

Jane owned all the shares in the business when her health began to deteriorate. After a particularly distasteful family meeting she decided that none of her children had sufficient leadership or management skills to take over the running of the business. Since there was no way they’d work properly together, a caretaker management group was appointed, comprising 3 siblings, 3 managers, accountant and lawyer and an external farm adviser, who chaired the management board. In effect, the business and the family were left drifting and rudderless… Sad, so much potential, but the problems were not addressed in time…

Although we are based in Auckland, we go wherever our clients ask us to!

Give us a call on 0800 765 837 or email rosemarie@fbsnz.co.nz to work out if Family Business Strategies is able to assist your business family or family business.