Considering starting a new family-owned business, even in this economy?  Or perhaps you want your current family business to survive, or even thrive.  It seems counterintuitive to think of starting up or growing in a recession, but there are some ways to approach these goals. 

As we have seen often with our family business clients, many family-owned firms put off formalizing in writing an actual business plan, business strategy, succession plan, etc.  Although it may seem to be enough to have these plans within the family, the competition for bank loans and clients is tighter than ever, and non-family-owned businesses are more likely to have these documents that the outside entities are seeking or requiring.  Extra funding can be used for investment into the company (start-up or continuing R&D).  Because the difficulty so many are having in selling, you may be able to take advantage of some “bargain pricing” for material investment, while your competitors aren’t growing during their boycott on buying.  As a family business, you may be able to use the fact that you don’t have outside shareholders harassing you to give them more money now; the family can stick together to weather the storm during the difficult financial periods, and emerge stronger than ever.  

Another venue a family-owned business may wish to pursue involves getting government contracts.  No one is happy that the giants like AIG benefitted from the Economic Stimulus Plan, but as the plan rolls out, smaller businesses are likely to benefit from this.  A great resource for your family-owned business is your state government; Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC all have state Web sites with loads of information on starting your family business, current status of any funding being provided to businesses, information about state grants and funding opportunities, and specific details on business regulations and assistance with writing business plans and other documents.  Investing your time into starting up the right way can save you untold time and resources going forward, and learning about what is already available to you may just save and grow your family-owned business.  

Resources:  For Virginia, visit the Department of Commerce at http://www.commerce.virginia.gov/  - they have a program called “Business One Stop” for new businesses starting up in Virginia.  If your business is in Maryland, go to State Department of Assessments and Taxation at http://www.dat.state.md.us.  The Business Resource Center at http://brc.dc.gov will assist with family businesses in the District of Columbia.  Don’t forget to check county and federal guidelines/regulations as well at those respective agencies.

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