Our Family Business Crisis: and How It Made Us Stronger

Sloppy business practices, a weak real estate market, and the lingering wake of The Great Recession are enough to put the future of Dobach Mechanical Contracting at stake. The biggest threat the family business faces is change, and the clock’s ticking furiously as far as how much time the family has to adjust before the bank cancels its credit.

Company president Fred Dobach and his family must take the unprecedented step of reaching out to a consultant in order to meet bank-imposed deadlines. How can an outsider who’s never worked with their type of business get them back on track? As more challenges confront them, can the family weather the storm?

Author Wayne Rivers, cofounder and president of the Family Business Institute Inc., gives readers Our Family Business Crisis, a novel depicting challenges faced by many family and small businesses. Throughout the novel, he depicts the no-nonsense approaches that a business consultant might take to fix a company in crisis.

There are twenty-four million small businesses in the United States alone, and many of them face obstacles similar to those threatening Dobach Mechanical. Rivers shows there’s hope in the form of commonsense solutions and solid planning.

Wayne Rivers, author of four books on managing family businesses, has dedicated his career to helping them achieve lasting business success and family harmony. Rivers is the cofounder and president of the Family Business Institute. He has shared his expertise on Today, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and BusinessWeek: Weekend.

A Wall Street Journal expert panelist, Rivers has been quoted on the subject of family and closely held businesses by leading publications including Forbes, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur, and the Washington Post. He's written hundreds of articles for magazines and trade publications.

He has been honored as a fellow by the Family Firm Institute.