Services

Consulting

We work with the intersection of family relationships, business, financial and philanthropic enterprises, and personal development

Our goal is to help families develop...

• Positive and supportive relationships
• Effective and profitable businesses and enterprises
• Clarity of roles and relationships in management and governance
• Individual development of responsibility, competence and fulfillment
• Preserve the family wealth

Collectively, our six principals have more than a century of experience, with hundreds of large and small families all over the world who are facing difficult transitions and overcoming crises.

We do not specialize in any one particular industry or size of enterprise. We work with smaller families in the first and second generations as well as larger families who have been successful for multiple generations. We find the issues, problems and concerns span a wide range of family business situations.

Our clients are not only families with operating businesses, but also include families with a portfolio of assets and who have family offices or foundations. Our emphasis in these cases are issues concerning inter-generational management of wealth, and effective relationships within their family. We strive to insure the wealth creates joy not grief. An important part of our work is developing the next generation in a family by addressing ownership as well as management succession. We strongly advocate personal responsibility and developing a strong sense of stewardship.

How We Work

We Look at the Whole Situation

We begin by assessing the whole family, and look at the big picture of what they want in the future, and what elements have to be in place to achieve success. We can assess the traits, abilities and competencies of family members to ensure best fit between their capabilities and the needs of the business. Individual development or coaching parallels family development. For optimum success one without the other is incomplete.

We Work for the Long Haul

We make a long-term commitment to help families implement their solutions. We want to put in place lasting solutions that change the quality of the family’s connections, and the success of its various business and financial ventures.

We Work with the Team of Advisors

We are generalists. Every family has advisors who have an important role. We work as part of a team with your other advisors to design a solution that works for the family. We do not offer legal advice, but work with your advisors to find the best path for your family.

Assessment is First - Family Assessment Tools

Rather than work on a part of the problem, we begin with a thorough assessment, interviewing each family member and key advisor, often using our proprietary tools, the Aspen Family Business or Aspen Family Wealth Inventories. Then we bring the family together to talk about what we found, and how to proceed.

• Assessment Tools to Manage the Professional Needs of Advisors and Consultants
• Aspen Family Business Inventory
• Aspen Family Wealth Inventory
• Aspen Family Foundation Inventory for Existing Foundations
• Aspen Family Foundation Inventory for Contemplated Foundations
• Aspen Legacy Property Inventory

Individual Assessment Tools

We have extensive individual assessment tools to ensure the best fit between the individual and the job or career, and the needs of the family business. This ensures that tomorrow’s successors possess the right competencies to be successful in the family business. At the time of succession we provide assessments of the transitioning leaders/owners to ensure orderly and optimum business and wealth management.

Collaborative Approach

We do not tell you what to do, or use "one size fits all" solutions. We work with your whole family to develop solutions that are very specific to your situation and your vision of the future. We do not work with a single family member to prescribe for others. Rather, we see ourselves as working for the whole family, as advocates for their various enterprises. We work with the family to discover what will work for them, not what will work theoretically.

Link to a Community of Learners

With our annual Gathering in Aspen, our newsletter, and other activities, we link the families we work with to other families with similar challenges, to learn together about what will work, and to share the struggle of growth and change.

A Resource for Advisors

As an advisor to complex wealthy families and family businesses, how often have you wished you could quickly get information about areas where family members do not see eye to eye, and find a way to bring those areas to the attention of your clients in a non-threatening way?

The Aspen Family Business Group provides a variety of services and products designed to assist family business owners with succession planning.  The Group assists with organization, structure and procedures to help businesses and the families who own and operate them become more effective and harmonious.

Family Business Membership

An online resource designed for family business owners who are not quite ready to bring in outside consultants or who are do-it-yourselfers.   The Membership will offer a Starter Kit, (a downloadable organizational tool detailing family meetings, boards, employment policies, mission statements and more), webinars covering a variety of topics most family businesses need help with, individual consultations, and discounts on products as well as our annual conference, The Gathering.  Members are added to our E-Newsletter list, which is published every other month and will also have access to additional in-depth articles published on our website for members only.

Books, Monographs, Webinars, Conferences

The Group offers books and downloadable monographs on a number of topics unique to family business owners.

Webinars are available both live and recorded for download.  Check the schedule for topics of interest.

The Gathering is AFBG’s annual conference held in Aspen, Colorado.  The Gathering provides a casual, intimate, and “safe” environment for families of family businesses to meet, learn, and map out a viable succession plan.