Pathways to sustained growth in family businesses are deeply influenced by the interaction of ownership stages, family behavior, business operations, and personal career paths. Each of these domains contributes to the factors for and against change within the organization, influencing the company's potential to innovate and grow over time. Initially, ownership is often centralized, with the founding family members possessing significant influence. This concentration of power is useful in the initial stages of business, but it may resist change as the business evolves. As ownership separates over decades, internal disputes might arise from the different viewpoints and vison they have. Simultaneously, when family dynamics evolve, later generations might struggle with divergent ambitions and commitment levels, potentially stifling change or sparking transformation through new leadership styles.
For instance, in the case of innovation and advance technology implementation in the firm and business operations, where older generation might resist innovation, whereas younger firms might embrace adaptive strategies more readily.
One popular quote stated, “Either you are Innovate or Die?”, which describe how company lack of innovation or up to date strategy might cause failure to the Business. According to Forbes, Toys R Us and Blockbuster were massive businesses. They had a great deal of success, but it all came to an end because they failed to innovate. Having such a narrow-minded attitude to the concept of innovation will undoubtedly make you struggle, therefore it's difficult to understand why the two brands thought the way they did. Nonetheless, let's be innovative and your business will be a lot simpler to sustain.
However, delegation of power from the founding owner to other management team to responsible for each part of business, might be a great help to the sustainability of the business.