Family Business Resources
Family-owned businesses face unique challenges and opportunities as they plan, grow, and work across generations. This page offers a simple collection of trusted resources that can help owners, successors, non-family executives, and advisors find reliable information when they need it. The Jim Walcott Family Enterprise Center will continue to add new materials as additional resources become available.
Featured Resources
These organizations offer research, articles, tools, and insights for family-owned businesses.
Family Business.org
A national resource with expert articles, case studies, and research focused on leadership, strategy, and communication in family-owned companies.
Family Business Magazine
A leading publication that highlights best practices, family governance, succession stories, and interviews with family business leaders..
Family Enterprise USA
A national advocacy and education organization that provides reports, surveys, and policy updates impacting family-owned companies across the United States.
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
The SBA provides guides, tools, and data that support small and family-owned businesses, including financing options, compliance information, and market research.
Key Reports and Fact Sheets
These reports provide helpful data and trends that impact family-owned companies.
The Jim Walcott Family Enterprise Center will add more documents as new research is
released.
- SBA Fact Sheet: Characteristics of Family-Owned Businesses
A national overview of the role family-owned firms play in the U.S. economy, including size, structure, workforce data, and economic contribution. - Compass Report: Arkansas Economic Indicators
A quarterly analysis prepared by the UAFS Center for Economic Development and Talk Business & Politics that tracks economic conditions across key regions of the state of Arkansas. The report includes data on workforce, business growth, consumer activity, and market trends that can help family-owned businesses understand local and regional economic shifts.
Recommended Reading
These books and publications offer practical guidance for families who lead, manage, or work in family-owned enterprises. These books are available for members through the Jim Walcott Family Enterprise Center Library or can be purchased through the provided links.
- Every Family’s Business by Tom Deans
A short, direct book that helps families think clearly about ownership transitions and long-term planning. - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen R. Covey
Practical tools for improving communication and teamwork across generations.
- Harvard Business Review: Family Business Articles & Toolkits
Research-driven articles on leadership, governance, and strategy in family enterprises. - Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook by Baron & Lachenauer
A helpful guide for understanding family enterprise systems, decision-making, and governance. - Unstuck by Stephanie Stuckey
A memoir of reviving her family’s iconic brand while rediscovering purpose and resilience. - Willing Wisdom by Tom Deans, Ph.D.
A framework for open communication about inheritance and legacy. - The Balance Point by Larry Hause & Cary J. Tutelman
A governance guide aligning owners, management, and boards. - Trapped in the Family Business by Michael Klein, PsyD
Explores emotional tensions in family business careers. - Traction by Gino Wickman
A simple operating system for running a business with discipline. - Your Business, Your Family, Your Legacy by George A. Isaac
A guide to succession, governance, and continuity. - Love Works by Joel Manby
Shows how leading with love improves culture and performance. - Family Business by Poza & Daugherty
A comprehensive textbook on family enterprise strategy and dynamics. - Generation to Generation by Gersick, Davis, Hampton & Lansberg
Introduces the Three-Circle Model of family business. - Keep Your Business Close and Your Family Closer by Larry Hollar
A guide to preventing conflict in family firms. - Family Business Key Issues by Rouvinez & Ward
Explores critical governance and transition issues.
- Keeping the Family Business Healthy by John L. Ward
Ward’s classic framework for long-term continuity. - Keep the Family Baggage Out of the Family Business by Quentin Fleming
Prevents emotional spillover from harming the business. - Strategic Planning for the Family Business by Carlock & Ward
Aligns family and business strategy. - Hug of War by Cathy Carroll
A candid look at emotional family-business dynamics. - Soul Intention by Chris Yonker, CFBA
Aligns inner purpose with business leadership. - When Family Businesses Are Best by Carlock & Ward
Explores what makes top-performing family firms. - Building a Successful Family Business Board by Ward, Pendergast & Brun de Pontet
A guide to creating effective boards. - The Five-Year Plan by Kate Toberman
A planning guide for the next five years. - Family Wars by Grant Gordon & Nigel Nicholson
Real stories of destructive family conflict. - The Spinach King by John Seabrook
A narrative about the Seabrook family food empire. - Deconstructing Conflict by Baumoel & Tripp
A framework for resolving family business conflict. - Family Business Blueprint by Liz Tedone
A blueprint for continuity and communication. - Married to the Family Business by Sara B. Stern
Support for spouses navigating business and marriage. - In the Company of Family by Melissa Mitchell-Blitch
A relational guide for healthier decision-making. - Inherited Trauma and Family Wealth by Ruschelle Khanna, LCSW
Explores generational trauma’s impact on wealth. - Walking to Destiny by Christopher Snider
A value-growth roadmap for owners. - Your Baby’s Ugly by Justin Goodbread
Exit planning expert on why over 80% of businesses never sell
Professional and Government Resources
These organizations offer guidance on compliance, planning, financing, and day-to-day business operations.
- Small Business Administration (SBA)
Resources for business planning, funding, compliance, and management. - Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC)
Advising, training, and market research support for Arkansas businesses. - IRS Small Business Resources
Tax guidance, forms, and tools for small business owners.
- Arkansas Secretary of State
Information on business registration, renewals, and filings in Arkansas. - S. Chamber of Commerce: Small Business Resources
Policy updates, educational materials, and tools for businesses nationwide
Other Centers like the Jim Walcott Family Enterprise Center
Not located near the JWFEC or perhaps you’re in another state and want to find a similar family enterprise center?
The Family Business Alliance was formed in 2003 to bring together directors of university-based family business programs. The Smith Family Business Initiative at Cornell University keeps a list of other centers.
Questions? Contact Us.
Justin Smith
- Director
- Justin.SmithFREEuafs
- The Bakery District - 70 S. 7th Street, Suite D
The Jim Walcott Family Enterprise Center supports family-owned business leaders at every stage of their journey. If you would like help finding the right resource or learning more about programs and membership, our team is here to help.