Do we need a new Family Business mindest in Italy ?

A few Italian insights

3,5 million companies out of 3,7 millions in total, have less then 10 employees. Almost 40% of Italians finished their schooling education with „junior high“ at the age of about 15, whereas the average percentage in Europe is 25%. With Covid-19 Italian debts, coming from 138% will increase to incredible 158% of GDP.

In the current Covid-19 crisis the Italian Government was fast in announcing help and remedies, but continues to be sluggish in delivering. The great plan for the Italian recovery will be presented only in September 2020. In the meantime companies will fail and layoffs continue to be prohibited, which means that real unemployment rates will be visible only in autumn 2020. It will be a disaster. Helping small companies to become big through M&A will work for the few, but not for the 3,5 million small enterprises mentioned above. And for sure, the proclamed State co-ownership in bigger companies will again not work, as it did not in the past. States are poor entrepreneurs, as entrepreneurs are poor politicians.

What do we need to do?

We need to create a new entrepreneurial mindset, a new FamilyBusiness culture. We need to take the good of existing entrepreneurial skills and add the underdeveloped ones: We need to create a professional FamilyBusinessModel mindset. A mindset based not only on creativity and long working hours, but first of all based on useful contributions to customers, which in turn result for the good of the entrepreneurs and their families, not vice versa. A mindset, which year after year strengthens the company’s solidity, making and reinvesting profits. We need the FamilyBusinessModel to be lived not by the few, but by the majority of FamilyCompanies.