CEO and Chairman, Paddy McNeely of Meritex Company was our guest on the show, sharing his long earned wisdom on family business success and succession. 

Paddy's family has owned Meritex for 104 years and he is the third generation of family members who are now working to transition to the fourth generation! 

Family business comprises a significant portion of the Gross Domestic Product; upwards of 50%, and they employ millions of people across the country. It's vital for owners of family businesses to attract top talent, especially now. When you have great talent in the business, you produce more than just 'product', you are affecting the success of communities and families beyond your own. 

When it comes to running the company, Paddy's family business has hired non-family leaders most of the time. They also set up Family Business Governance to help guide their company into future generations. Governance can be a big word that may keep owners from adopting these best practices. Suffice it to say, you're talking about general rules of governing your business. 

Paddy also said that the advisers he's worked with over the years have been a key component to their ongoing success as a business. His Board consists of experts in several fields of expertise who are not involved in the company otherwise. An unexpected benefit of having a Board is in recruiting high level talent for the company. Having a Board of Directors proves to those candidates that you are serious about growing your business and aren't going to let family matters get in the way of best practices, providing a feeling of security for a non-family member candidate that it's 'safe' to work for you!

For more of Paddy's wisdom, listen to the episode now!

Find Paddy here: https://www.meritex.com/about-us
Find Julie here: www.poisedforexit.com

Connect with Julie Keyes, Keyestrategies LLC
Founder, Consultant, Author, Pod-caster and Instructor