All in the family

Family businesses provide millions of jobs in Canada. Anyone can start a family business on a shoestring, in a basement, or a garage. Growing them beyond a hobby with a few hundred dollars in annual sales is difficult. Keeping them alive for the next generation is even tougher. Less than half of family businesses make it to the second generation. Only about 10 percent get to the third. “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations,” said Seagram founder Sam Bronfman. His grandson, Edgar Jr., fulfilled that prophecy through a foolish merger with Vivendi that slashed the family fortune from $8 billion...