How to absorb your kids into your small business

70 per cent of family businesses fail or are sold before they're passed on to the second generation. [iStockphoto]

Most entrepreneurs dream of passing their business on to their children. However, in many cases, business owners fail to adequately prepare the next generation for business succession.

From a privileged perspective, the next generation often lacks the sense of responsibility and stewardship that it takes to safeguard a successful family business. You can probably name a few successful family businesses that disintegrated after the second generation took over.