Interrupted Entrepreneurship: Embracing Change in the Family Business

BUSINESS INTERRUPTED: Successfully Navigating the Interruptions in the Family Business CycleFamily business: A distinct, vital form of business representing 80 percent of all firms in theUS, 85 percent in the European Union, 90 percent in the Middle East, and 99 percent in Japan.As the percentages indicate, family business is everywhere. In INTERRUPTED ENTREPRENEURSHIP,multigenerational family business member Raméz A. Baassiri seeks answers to an array of hurdles that every familybusiness has faced and could face, not only from the perspective of his own family business but also from the viewpointof dozens of family businesses that have confronted interruptions and not only weathered the storms, but thrived.While this is not a one-solution-fits-all book for business interruptions, it is intended as a glimpse into history fromwhich you can derive lessons and gain inspiration for your own exponential possibilities for the future by offeringthe following:• a wealth of historical knowledge• practical support• valuable insight• viewpoints that span age, gender, and geography• observations not only of the past and present, but of the evolving landscape of the futureInterruptions are uncontrollable, but you can choose how to confront and deal with those interruptions—and do so in a beneficial way to your business and your personal well-being.“Raméz A. Baassiri’s fine book INTERRUPTED ENTREPRENEURSHIP is full of EI (emotional intelligence) and wisdomon the management of family firms. Structured around his insightful observations on how to appreciate and addressthe interruptions in our life paths, Baassiri uses his family’s story, and those of many famous families in business, toguide family companies to lasting success.”—PROFESSOR JOHN DAVIS, chair, families in business program, Harvard Business School“I found INTERRUPTED ENTREPRENEURSHIP to be a useful roadmap for entrepreneurs as they face struggles in theirfamily businesses. If you have a family business, or are planning to start one, this book provides a helpful and comfortingperspective from others who have walked these roads and successfully made it past their own roadblocks.”—LAURA HUANG, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Wharton School