Vincent Finaldi reflects on the biggest lessons he’s learned as a 2nd generation family business owner and partner with his siblings. He emphasizes that working with family is inherently challenging, as it blurs the lines between personal and professional relationships. Balancing family roles—such as being a brother, uncle, or business partner—can create complex dynamics. Additionally, for a family business to succeed, it must be financially stable, have growth, and avoid nepotism, with each family member having clearly defined roles. Vincent notes that when the business thrives, these challenges are manageable, but hard decisions during industry downturns can make family partnerships more difficult. Despite these complexities, he finds the experience rewarding.

Transcript:

Hi. My name is Vincent Finaldi, and in this video I wanted to answer, what’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned as a 2nd generation family business owner being partners with my siblings? So with that being said, it’s a loaded question. So what are some of the lessons I have learned? First, it’s not easy.

Going into business with family inherently is difficult, because you’re combining the dining room table with the conference room table. Second, the relationship dynamics change. If you have multiple children and then there’s cousins and there’s family get togethers, it often becomes different to intertwine. Am I putting on my brother hat, my uncle hat, or my business partner hat?

Then the third thing I would say is, the business has to be doing well for it to work. Meaning, there has to be growth, there has to be profit, there has to be a strong team around you, there can’t be nepotism. So can second generation businesses work? Well, of course, they happen all over the country, But they typically only work if the business is doing well and everyone has clearly defined roles.

Because if, let’s face it, if the industry is going through something and then you have to start making really hard decisions, that’s when you typically don’t wanna be in a family run business. But if everything’s going well, it’s totally manageable. So with that being said, I’ve learned a lot as a second generation owner.

I would say it’s rewarding but complex and difficult.