YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY

Springfield, MO

Log in Subscribe

Drs. Gary, Tyler and Todd Buzbee, left to right, of Buzbee Dental Clinic are navigating the intricacies of operating a family business. Buzbee Dental is the exception to the rule; statistics say only 30 percent of family businesses will stay in the family into the second generation.
Drs. Gary, Tyler and Todd Buzbee, left to right, of Buzbee Dental Clinic are navigating the intricacies of operating a family business. Buzbee Dental is the exception to the rule; statistics say only 30 percent of family businesses will stay in the family into the second generation.

Family enterprises offer unique office dynamic

Posted online
Business at Buzbee Dental Clinic is all in the family.

Since Gary Buzbee started his practice in 1977, he has been joined by three other dentists that he knows well: his brother, Roger, and Gary’s two sons, Todd and Tyler.

Buzbee Dental is now among the more than 85 percent of North American business enterprises that, according to U.S. Census Bureau research, are family firms, including sole proprietorships.

Family-owned businesses have a tremendous impact on the U.S. economy.

Data from the Family Firm Institute shows that 62 percent of the country’s employment and 50 percent of the gross domestic product comes from family-owned businesses.

Data for southwest Missouri is more difficult to determine. The Census Bureau shows that in 2005, the Springfield metropolitan area was home to 32,415 nonemployer businesses – businesses with no paid employees – with receipts of about $1.43 billion. That data, however, underestimates the impact of local family businesses, because the numbers don’t include family businesses that have employees.

And yet, family business ownership is fleeting. Family Firm Institute says that only 30 percent of family businesses will be family-owned into the second generation, 12 percent will make it to a third branch of the family tree, and only 3 percent will survive to the fourth generation and beyond.

So how do family businesses buck the trend?

Experts and family business stalwarts say the key to success is a combination of common vision and family identity – and learning to deal with generational differences and the challenges that come with being related to coworkers.

A common goal

Wayne Rivers, president of North Carolina-based consulting firm Family Business Institute, said family businesses can align relatives in a singular direction “and forge a team out of a bunch of people that would otherwise be very different.”

That’s the case for Penmac Personnel Services.

Owner and founder Patti Penny started the Springfield-based company 20 years ago and has grown it to locations in six states serving more than 600 business clients – and employing 13 family members among its ranks.

Penny said the key has been making sure that each relative on staff, including her daughter and company President Paula Adams, has a specific niche.

“Each person here has a role and they fall into their role,” Penny said. “They communicate with Paula a lot, and then I deal more with the big picture.”

Another advantage of working with family members is trust.

That trust is key for Roger Buzbee, who notes that trust is all the more important for Buzbee Dental since a long-time former employee allegedly embezzled more than $215,000 from the practice from 1999 to 2005.

Gary Buzbee said the clinic was able to recover the money it could prove was taken, and no charges were filed against the employee, who he declined to name.

“They’re family members – it’s my brother and his kids – and we trust each other,” Roger Buzbee said. “It’s also that I’m a family guy, so there’s a sense of pride.”

Inherent disadvantages

While employing relatives can be advantageous, there are some potential drawbacks.

Family Business Institute’s Rivers said the most common problem in working with family is letting home issues interfere with work and vice versa – and, he said it happens with every family business.

“If you have a big battle with your brother or father at the office at 4:30, and you come home at 6:30, you’re not leaving that behind,” Rivers said, noting that his business is also a family firm – his father-in-law, Tom Campbell, co-founded the company. “Business issues ripple through the family, and the family issues ripple through the business. If people say that they don’t take it home with them, it just means they’re enjoying a period of harmony right now.”

While the Buzbees acknowledge disagreements, they say the key is turning them into compromises that satisfy everyone.

“It’s ridiculous to think you’d have four people of different ages and personalities that will agree on everything every time it happens,” Gary Buzbee said. “But you have to make sure you can turn those disagreements into a consensus.”

Family businesses, Rivers said, also often deal with generational differences – parents who founded the company and work 80 hours a week might expect the same effort from their children, even if the kids can do the same work more efficiently.

“Work hours are one way that the senior generation measures commitment to the business – if you’re willing to work 80 hours a week, (you) must be committed,” Rivers said.

“They sometimes see unwillingness to work 80 hours a week as a lack of commitment, which is not true.”

Passing it on

Gary Buzbee said generational differences in approaching technology and doing business have been beneficial to Buzbee Dental’s longevity.

“I was fortunate in that I had my brother come in when I’d been in practice for 12 or 13 years, and then had the boys come in after that,” Buzbee said. “There are guys who graduated with me that are practicing the exact same way they did when they started. By having someone come in fresh, it guarantees the preservation of the practice.”

The infusion of younger talent could continue for the Buzbees. Roger Buzbee said his son, Roger Jr., is entering his sophomore year at Drury University and has expressed interest in getting his dentistry degree and joining the practice.

Knowing well in advance who will run the business after the founders retire is the key to successful succession planning, Rivers said – and the key to getting the children to want to join the business is to present the company in a positive light.

“What family business owners should do better is take home the optimistic, positive message of why they’re in business,” Rivers said. “When they come home at night and their 10-year-old is sitting at the dinner table, what do they talk about? They fume about how hard they have to work, they moan and kvetch. The 10-year-old is absorbing all of that. How excited is that child going to be when he’s grown up to go into the business that caused Dad so much anguish?”

It seems Penmac founder Penny did a good job presenting the positives of her company to her daughter. Adams joined the company after serving as a stay-at-home mom, despite having no previous training in human resources.

Penny said she’s not sure what she would have done if she didn’t have an interested family member to take the reins of the business now that she is slowly stepping away from daily operations. In fact, she’s pretty sure the business would have been sold.

“My plan for the future when I started was to survive. I wasn’t looking past next year,” Penny said. “I do have some people here that could carry it on, but without family I’d be concerned about how it would end or grow.

“If the family had not come into the business, I would sell it.”[[In-content Ad]]

Comments

No comments on this story |
Please log in to add your comment
Editors' Pick
From the Ground Up: Republic Intermediate School

The Republic School District is on track to open its Intermediate School for fifth- and sixth-grade students for the 2025-26 academic year.

Most Read
Update cookies preferences