A career in a family business from the perspective of the successor VS the founder
This semester, the Strategy in Family Businesses course, taught at the Faculty of Business Administration of the Prague University of Economics and Business by the Academic Director of CFB Martin Jurek, was attended by a record number of students with personal experience in family business. Many of them are members of family businesses themselves, and thanks to them, students had the opportunity to hear authentic stories, dilemmas, and future plans related to succession. This was from the perspective of both potential successors and those who founded the family business themselves. Students Kateřina Kopecká and Phung Ngoc Bich told us more about their experiences.
Kateřina Kopecká is a graduate of the Faculty of Informatics and Statistics and a student of the Master’s program in Management at the Faculty of Business Administration. For the second year, she has been working in the family business Motocentrum HK, which was founded by her father and his brother in the early 1990s. Today, it is an authorized dealer of 14 motorcycle brands, including the iconic Vespa, Aprilia racing bikes, and British Triumph. Kateřina joined the company after becoming disillusioned with corporate life:
“The family business saved me from burnout. I was able to jump right into something new. My dad offered me the chance to take care of marketing and complete the new e-shop project.” On the one hand, it was a rescue for Kateřina from a corporate job that didn’t suit her very well, but on the other hand, she went through feelings of insecurity and inadequacy that many successors in family businesses experience. “I don’t want to say that I was ashamed of it at first, but whenever someone asked me where I worked, I tended to elaborate and defend that I had the skills and experience for the role I held and that I didn’t just get it because I needed a place to stay,” she describes, adding that after her initial doubts, a feeling of pride set in: “I realized that it is an honor to work in a family business and see the direct effect of my own work.”
However, Kateřina remains in the position of a potential successor with open possibilities. “My goal is to stand on my own two feet in the field of UX design, which I studied at FIS VŠE, and to keep only one foot in our family business.” Motorcycles are not Kateřina’s biggest hobby, so she cannot imagine running the company without colleagues with technical and professional know-how.
Another student of Strategy in Family Businesses, Phung Ngoc Bich, is just getting involved in her family business activities and shared with her classmates her father’s, the founder’s, view of the family business. He founded the family business, which focuses on the supply and servicing of medical equipment, in 2012. “The strength of our company is our team of highly qualified technicians who can handle advanced technical problems—something many of our competitors cannot do. In healthcare, this reliability is essential,” explained Bich.
As part of her preparation for the final presentation of the Strategy in Family Businesses course, Bich interviewed her father about his views on the future of the family business. “As the founder, he is clear about his future. He definitely plans to continue with the company and develop it further. With my and my brother’s help. Business is his passion, and he wants the ownership and management of the company to remain in the family.” Today, the company employs 20 people, including seven family members, and the second generation is gradually getting involved in its operations. The challenge for the coming years will be to develop the company primarily in the service and technician training segment. “We see this as a more sustainable direction for our business in the long term,” says Bich.
Both students agree that the topics covered in the Strategy in Family Businesses course helped them clarify their roles in the family business and understand the complexity of succession. As Kateřina says: “It’s important to talk about it within the family and with potential successors. Some may feel pressure or perhaps even unfair treatment. It’s all about communication.” The course helped Bich think more clearly about how to balance family and business goals and think more strategically about the future. “It helped me understand how to manage generational differences, how to think more strategically about succession, and how to preserve core family values while supporting innovation,” says Bich.
