NYT: For Owners of Century-Old Businesses, Shutting Down Brings a Special Pain

Obligation cannot be the reason to continue. Long term, that is not sustainable.

July 2020

From the New York Times article dated July 17, 2020:

Vernon Harrell, the company's fourth-generation owner, recently announced he was closing the business his great-grandfather started.

"There isn't the next generation with the passion to take the business through a crisis," said Jennifer Pendergast, executive director of the Center for Family Enterprises at Northwestern University. "This is going to be hard for a while. Is there someone who wants to take that on?"

For business owners trying to chart the future - whether they're the fifth generation or the second - Dr. Pendergast recommends that they find someone who can be their "truth teller," who will look at the numbers and the emotions of continuing.

Click here to read the entire article on the New York Times website.