3 minSons and daughters of entrepreneurial families: at the crossroads
Anne Goedert Being born into a family in business means being immersed from early on (and sometimes over many years) in an environment charged with passion, work, soul-searching and close interaction between the life of the family and that of the business. Questions about succession, joining the business and the many challenges this poses are bound to arise sooner or later. The answers are not set in stone. They are complex and specific to each case.
A place to connect with others and gain control of your decisions
After higher education or university, for many the time comes to make some initial decisions, which may take them closer to or alienate them from the family business. The ‘Filles et fils d'entrepreneurs à la croisée des chemins’ (Sons and daughters of entrepreneurs) academy offers young people from Luxembourg, Belgian and French business families a forum for reflection and discussion.
Programme enriched by shared experiences
Specialists in the field and family business leaders will present insights and personal accounts, and facilitate the participants’ discussions. Learning more about yourself, understanding the business and its governance, and considering what it means to work with your family – all the while comparing your own questions and experiences with those of other young people on a similar journey – are the aims of the twelfth edition of this programme. The number of places is deliberately limited.
This process is intended to position each participant as the agent of their own decision-making, and to foster a group spirit that will be valuable during and after the programme.
Guest speakers
Each year, we invite a young person who has joined their family business as well as a more seasoned entrepreneur to come and talk about their experience.
For the young person, it's an opportunity to share their thoughts about their first steps in the business. The more experienced entrepreneur will consider the viewpoint of the family's mother/father and CEO faced with their children joining the company.
The focus is on the influences motivating the decision to join the family business, on both sides.
Who is the summer academy for?
It's for the sons and daughters of entrepreneurial families who
- are wondering whether or not to join the family business and could benefit from a fresh approach to the question
- aren’t ready, at this stage, to work in the business but still want to maintain links with it
- haven't yet joined the family business (18-30 years old, are still studying or engaged in other professional experience) or have left it and are wondering whether to return
- are prepared to spend three and a half days participating in the programme and gain control of their future decisions
- have joined the family business and are wondering whether they made the right decision
For more information
