Family-Owned Businesses

A family-owned business may be defined as any business in which two or more family members are involved and the majority of ownership or control lies within a family. Family-owned businesses may be the oldest form of business organization. Farms were an early form of family business in which what we think of today as the private life and work life were intertwined. In urban settings it was once normal for a shopkeeper or doctor to live in the same building in which he or she worked and family members often helped with the business as needed.

Since the early 1980s the academic study of family business as a distinct and important category of commerce has developed. Today family owned businesses are recognized as important and dynamic participants in the world economy. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, about 90 percent of American businesses are family-owned or controlled. Ranging in size from two-person partnerships to Fortune 500 firms, these businesses account for half of the nation's employment and half of her Gross National Product. Family businesses may have some...

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