I am pleased to announce that my show, Family Comes First: Passing the Family Business, premiers on November 24^th at 7:30 p.m. on Telecare – Cablevision Channel 29 /137 and FIOS TV Channel 296. This show will run throughout the week and will be available at www.familycomesfirst.tv within the next month.

The Family Business can be passed on to the next generation successfully. Our show takes a look into the lives of the LaSpina Family. John LaSpina is a second generation owner of Maple Lanes in Brooklyn and five other bowling alleys on Long Island and his children are now involved as the business passes to the third generation of LaSpinas.

Not only do we meet the LaSpina family, John and his son, Joseph; we also have the input of Anthony Caporrino of Grodsky, Caporrino & Kaufman PC (a certified public accountant) and Jane Myers of Jane M. Myers, PC (a business transactional attorney) who will share their insights on how to avoid the pitfalls and successfully pass the family business from one generation to the next.

Statistics show that only about one-third of all family businesses are successfully transferred to the next generation and only 12% are successfully transferred onto the third generation.

Many family business consultants say the primary reason for this low survival rate is the failure to develop and effectively plan for the transfer of ownership and management of the family business.

This is shocking when you think that this country has been built on the success of family businesses. More than 90% of all business enterprises in the United States are family business. They account for 78% of all the new jobs created in the U.S. So much effort goes into making a business successful but I am not sure how much effort is put into the transition of the business to the next generation?

There are many factors to consider when passing on the family business.

There are personal, financial and legal issues that all need to be dealt with.

For anyone who has a family business, you will be inspired by the success story of the LaSpina family.