Posting by Debra Andrews, Executive Director, Greater Washington DC Family Business Alliance
What would the producers of Jon & Kate Plus 8 have done if it was Kate who left, and the less-catchy new title would be Jon Plus 8? Marketing loves rhyming and/or alliteration, so it was crucial the title still had some pop, even if Pop was no longer in the family. And so it goes, divorce affects not only the family, but sometimes the family business, in ways one can’t even imagine.
The Reality of Divorce in a Family Business
Okay, you’ve got me. A reality show isn’t the most “realistic” example of a family business, but the points can still be made. And in this case, a divorce could have caused immediate dissolution of the family business, and all earnings from the show, speaking engagements and other perks (e.g., vacations, clothes and other goods from sponsors). Fortunately for their bank account (and unfortunately for anyone with taste), divorce and associated scandals initially propelled additional interest in the show and the subsequent “new” offering of Kate Plus 8. The family business grew in other directions, and its initial “customers” of other young families enjoying triumph overcome struggle in raising two sets of multiples would be replaced by a less stable customer base of those seeking pleasure out of the dissolution of the marriage and fallout the children may suffer.
Your Family Business Mission Statement: Changing with the Times, or Just Contradictory
Divorce statistics, well known to Americans at around 50%, make it pretty clear that just avoiding divorce is not likely a realistic strategy for protecting your family business from business turmoil. Being legally prepared as people become part of the family (and family business), and business planning in general, can go a long way toward minimizing the damage. But it is often not what is thrown at one in life, but how one handles it, that reveals what a person, or a business, is made of. Aside from turning a profit (which should be the goal of every business), what did Jon & Kate Plus 8 initially set out to do? Was it to help other young parents, show a growing family, focus on multiple births, or provide a warmhearted entertainment alternative? Whatever its original intent, it became a three-ring circus featuring frat-boy dad, control-freak mom and 8 increasingly distressed little ones, provoking interest for all the wrong reasons. How would your family business handle a difficult private situation such as divorce among two members of the family?
