Types of Family Business Owners

There are many attitudes towards ownership. The following 8 types describe what we have found are common among family business owners. How would you describe yourself?

Operating Owner
  • Employed in the business.
  • Day-to-day management issues are important to them.
Governing Owner
  • Board member and overseer but not employed in the business.
  • Their interest is shareholder return on investment, supporting senior management and holding them accountable for performance.
Interested Owner
  • Actively interested, attentive and supportive but not employed in the company or as a board member.
Stewardship Owner
  • One who has a multigenerational perspective.
  • They believe their responsibility is to enrich the assets they care for and pass them on to the next generation.
  • Long term stability always trumps short term return on investment.
Dutiful Owner
  • Not particularly interested in the business.
  • They vote as they are advised by other owners or managers.
  • They are driven by the desire to create or maintain family harmony.
Investor Owner
  • Interested primarily in return on investment.
  • The company is merely an asset that needs to be managed for profit.
  • This owner has no emotional tie to the company.
Passive Owner
  • Is an owner in name only.
  • They don’t really feel entitled to act like an owner and are not interested in doing so.

Heritage Owner

  • This owner sees the company is a civic responsibility and feels a strong moral responsibility to the community.
  • The business is often seen as a memorial to the founder1.
  1. Joe Paul, Aspen Family Business Group, LLC ↩︎