A few nights ago, my wife and I were sitting in the quiet of our living room, reflecting on our working lives She’s seen the long nights, the phone calls taken at dinner, and the weight I carry on my shoulders after a meeting with a family business client. She looked at me and said something that stopped me in my tracks. She said:-

“As I watch you on this journey to help family businesses, I realise what sets you apart. You don’t see yourself as just an advisor who hands over a report and walks away. You get involved. You care. For you, this isn’t a project—it’s a mission of service.“

Hearing her say that was a moment of profound clarity. It hit home because she had articulated the very thing I’ve felt in my bones but never quite put into words.

In the world of consulting, it’s easy to stay at arm’s length. I can understand an advisor that would prefer being completely detached. He/she provides the strategy, offer the technical fix, and then they exit. They treat a family business like a machine that needs a new part.

But family businesses aren’t machines. They are living, breathing legacies. When I walk into a meeting room or boardroom or a squashed office or sometimes or a family kitchen, I don’t just see numbers, P/Ls, balance sheets, strategies or the lack of all this. I see the sacrifices of the founders who started with nothing. The pressure on the next generation to honour what was built. The quiet tensions that come when business goals collide with Sunday dinners. I see the worries of both present and future generations.

I have long realised that I cannot help a family business grow if I am unwilling to stand in the fire with them. “Getting involved” means I’m there for the difficult conversations that everyone else is avoiding, if not being the person triggering them as they need to happen. It means I’m thinking about their challenges while I’m driving home, not because I’m “on the clock,” but because their success feels personal to me.

I never see myself just as the family business advisor that tells my clients what to do. I am also the person that is ready to help you carry the load. Having said so, I cannot carry the load on my own. I need the alignment, agreement and support of the family business owners.

Ultimately, for me, this work is a calling. Family businesses are the backbone of our economy, but they are also the most fragile because of the emotional stakes involved. When a family business fails, it’s not just a company closing—it’s a family’s history being erased.

I refuse to let that happen on my watch.

My wife’s observation reminded me that my greatest asset isn’t just my financial and managerial expertise, my experience or my methodologies—it’s my heart & commitment. It’s the fact that I treat the family legacy of family business with a high level of reverence.

To the family business I work with, and those I have yet to meet: I will never just “forward my advice.” I will be in the trenches with you. I will listen to the things you aren’t saying. I will care as much as you do. Because at the end of the day, we aren’t just building a better business. We are protecting the people you love most.

May I please take this opportunity to wish all those reading my blog a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.