When a family business is passed down to a sole owner there are both advantages and disadvantages.

By having only one owner, the business becomes lean and effective, similar to a start-up. Since there is only one decision-maker, decisions can be made quickly and pivoting to new opportunities is made easier. The company also has the vision and passion of only one person, so the company’s future can be direct and specific.

There are also disadvantages to only having one owner. If the succeeding generation does not agree on who the one owner should be, the siblings who are not chosen can become disgruntled, causing friction within the family. The criteria for choosing the sole owner should be very thorough as well since if the wrong sole owner is chosen, the whole business could perish.

In this series of case studies, SUFABU explores sole ownership in different family contexts.