Around half of young people questioned in a poll for DCU are seriously thinking of taking over their family business one day.

The poll found that men were twice as likely (66%) than women (33%) to want to take over as successors.

The findings came in a report titled ‘To Join or Not to Join?’ that is being launched today at AIB Head Office on Molesworth Street in Dublin.

Some 72% of respondents to the survey believe the next CEO in their family business will be a family member.

Level of interest is believed to most influence the choice of successor and order of birth is believed to be least influential.

Future of business

Director of DCU’s National Centre for Family Business Dr Eric Clinton, who helped compile the report, said family-owned businesses are vital to the economy in Ireland.

“Over 160,000 family businesses are employing almost one million people in Ireland,” he said.

“It is clear that family businesses make a major contribution to the communities they serve and to the wider economy across the entire island of Ireland.

“It is also heartening to see that 40% of the next generation surveyed have strong intentions to become a successor in the family business, preserving these enterprises for generations to come.”

The survey also found that 85% of young people do not hold a financial ownership stake in their family business, but 39% of next-generation members feel a very high degree of ‘psychological ownership’ for the business.

Men were more inclined to feel this way (59%) than their female counterparts (41%).

Economy

Dr Clinton said Ireland is bucking international trends when it comes to family business succession.

“Family businesses are the bedrock of economies and communities, exercising the dynastic will to build strong businesses and survive the social and economic crises that often crush non-family businesses,” he said.

“Despite this prominence, a global succession crisis has recently emerged, but not for the island of Ireland.

“We found that succession aspirations are healthy, and the shaping of next-generation intentions regarding educational choices, sustainability, emotional well-being, and socio-emotional wealth will each play a vital role in realising these aspirations to maintain a resilient all-island economy.”

Some 33% of those surveyed held ‘negative or ambivalent’ feelings towards their family’s business.

Main image: Parents and adult daughter using laptop at dining table. Image: Hero Images Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo