Bashing capitalism and blaming free enterprise is all the rage these days in Washington. Whether the sentiments are real, or we’re just being used as political scapegoats, the message is the same: ‘The American entrepreneur has deep pockets, and a patriotic duty to share the results of their hard work with those less inspired.’

Politicians, masquerading as modern day Robin Hoods, act as though business owners are endowed with unearned blessings. They cite numerous reasons for the unwarranted attacks in an effort to hide their obvious self-interests. At a much deeper level, these barkers seem to think that, ‘since we must point a finger at someone, why not private business owners? They’re a resilient group of rugged individualists. They’ll bounce back.’

They’re right. As the champions of industry, family business owners are hard-wired to overcome adversity and create a better tomorrow – come what may... We will survive. Nothing can extinguish the eternal flame of an entrepreneur. I firmly believe that each and every person needs to create, though some do it with more passion than others. Like words to the writer, film to the director or color to the painter, business is art to the entrepreneur.

But, free enterprise isn’t free. It takes hard work, creativity, incalculable risk and indefinable tenacity. Family businesses account for 80% to 90% of all business enterprises in America. They contribute 64% of the GDP, and employ 62% of the U.S. workforce. We should take pride in our role, and be comforted by the contribution of family business to our nation’s economic strength. The uniquely American genetic code of adventure and pioneering spirit are alive and well in the hearts of our family business owners. 

All business activities in the United States begin as an entrepreneurial adventure. Each business was first, and for a time, an idea in the mind of one person. Recall the stories become legend:

• College dropout Bill Gates is the founder of Microsoft (and now one of the richest people in the World).
• Howard Schultz dreamed of neighborhood coffee shops with an Italian ambiance so he created Starbucks
• The ultimate dreamer, Walt Disney, created a place where adult and child alike can escape reality and experience a world of make believe.
• Sam Walton was the exemplar of retail success whose Wal-Mart is boon to price conscious consumers coast to coast. 

What are the qualities of an entrepreneur? What does it take to step away from corporate security, turn from the accepted norm of looking for a “good job,” and embrace a lifestyle on the edge of challenge, risk and uncertainty? The American Heritage Dictionary defines an entrepreneur as a person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for business ventures. The quintessential family business owner may be the American farmer whose lot is cast depending on the weather and margins are measured in pennies.  

Up and down your Main Street there’s a local Bill Gates, Sam Walton or Howard Shultz. Though their accomplishments may not be celebrated beyond the local community their contributions are just as important. The keys to success are the same. The distinguishing traits of an entrepreneur are:

• The confidence to know that anything can be accomplished.
• Courage to create something that otherwise would not exist.
• The vision to see the impossible and know that, ‘if it’s going to be, it’s up to me.’
• The ability to risk reputation, time, humility, money and security to reach for something bigger than self.
• Fortitude, because everything takes longer and costs more than the most careful projections.

Writer and speaker Earl Nightingale may have summarized it best in his book The Strangest Secret. “The person who succeeds in America is the person who sets his or her own wages, goals, and lifestyle. Successful people are those who discover that life is ready and willing to meet their requirements. They set their incomes to meet their needs and wants by discovering within themselves a marketable factor and developing that factor to whatever degree necessary in order to derive the appropriate reward response.”

You see, succession planning is not just about passing the business entity to the next generation. It’s about transferring the entrepreneurial spirit and the intellectual capital to the business leaders of tomorrow. It’s about gracefully exiting the business, ensuring that the operation will continue to grow and prosper in a founder’s absence. It’s an owner anticipating and then planning for a comfortable retirement or the next venture in his/her vocational life. Planning for succession regards good capital management and adequate cash flow. It answers the question of ‘what if’ for emergencies or unforeseen circumstances. It will address the almost certain collapse of a business in case of a disability or death of an owner. 

Use this column as a catalyst for conversation. Talk to your family. Visit with those individuals dependent on business success for their livelihood---extended family, loyal employees and third party partners. Ask the pointed questions and seek real answers. Visit about the inevitable transition of your agribusiness operation from the current generation to the next. Find out:

1. Who’s interested in participating in the family operation?
2. What roles/responsibilities is a person willing to assume to be included?
3. To what extent are you willing to invest, earn or purchase an ownership interest?