15 July 2026
Strategic planning when the board is also the family
Ownership emotions and commercial choices share a table in many NZ SMEs. Separate the conversations without pretending they are unrelated.
Family firms often delay planning because the discussion will touch succession, fairness, and identity. Avoiding the calendar does not remove those topics — it only moves them into tense side conversations.
Split the agendas
Hold a commercial planning session with market and capacity choices first. Schedule a separate ownership conversation — even if the people are the same — so a pricing debate does not become a referendum on who deserves what.
Invite the next generation carefully
Adult children who will operate the business should hear the strategy. Those who will not operate it may need a different briefing. Mixing both groups without a plan often stalls decisions.
Write the decision log
When a product line is kept “because Dad built it,” record that reason. Future managers deserve honesty. You can honour history and still set a review date.
Use an outside facilitator when votes split evenly
Equal co-owners who are also siblings rarely break ties cleanly alone. A facilitator’s job is not to pick a favourite child — it is to force criteria into the open.