Passing the Baton to the Next Generation of the Greek Family Businesses

Family firms are important, not only because they make an essential contribution to the economy, but also because of the long-term stability they bring, the responsibility they feel and the values they stand for.One of the most crucial phases of the life-cycle of a business is the moment of transferring its ownership and leadership. The lack of succession planning is one of the most important reasons why many first-generation firms do not survive their founders. Preparing for a business transfer is a long and complex process entailing a number of difficulties.In a number of European countries appropriate structures has been created for a successful transfer of family businesses to the next generation. Examples of these structures are: “passing the baton” in Finland, “from a single project to a path of overall support” in Netherlands, “Kit.brunello” in Italy and “the FAMBUS diagnosis and self-therapy model” in Greece.The findings of the FAMBUS (Family Businesses) research project, are based on the results of a quantitative study of family businesses in Greece and Finland, carried out in 2014. As regards the issue of succession, the findings indicate that: (a) most of the owners-founders are intended to pass the family business to their children (b) less than half of the owners have already chosen their successor (c) a relatively high percentage of the owners intend to continue working in the family business even after their retirement and (d) the three most important criteria that the owners have used for choosing their successor/s in the family business, are: “personal skills”, “loyalty in business” and “coincidence with the vision of the company”.