The Family Business Bulletin
A Quarterly Report from the Center of Family Enterprise Research
Mississippi State University
Growing Through Opportunity:
How Family Goals Shape Business Opportunities
In this issue of The Family Business Bulletin, we explore how family firm goals shape the opportunities businesses recognize, evaluate, and pursue. You’ll find research-based insights and practical guidance on:
- Non-financial priorities of family businesses.
- Three questions family entrepreneurs can ask when evaluating a new opportunity.
- Why having family firm goals may expand the range of opportunities available to family businesses.
- How entrepreneurship and study-abroad experiences can help students recognize new possibilities.
- How MSU’s E-Center helps students turn ideas into entrepreneurial opportunities.
- Open-access resources to support family businesses and entrepreneurs.
INFORMATION – Performance Monitoring and Incentives
What Your Words Reveal: Understanding the Goals Behind Your Family Business
by Dr. Chelsea Sherlock, Assistant Professor of Management
Every family business juggles two bottom lines: the financial one and one built on legacy, relationships, and reputation. New research (Reid et al., 2026) published in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, offers family business owners a practical way to see that second bottom line clearly, by examining the language families actually use to describe their own priorities.
Researchers studying publicly traded family business found that when family leaders write to shareholders or publish ‘about us pages’ on their websites, their communications consistently emphasize three distinct, non-financial priorities (compared to non-family firms):.
- Continuity – the desire to keep the family business under family control and pass it on to future generations. This goal shows up in language pertaining to legacy, tradition, heritage, and long-term stability.
- Enrichment – the emotional benefit family members get from being involved in the business together. This goal is represented by pride, belonging, close relationships, and a shared purpose.
- Prominence – the family’s investment in its public reputation and standing in their community. This goal is often expressed through philanthropy, community involvement, and protecting the family name.
These goals don’t always move in tandem with one another, as every family blends these goals differently. For instance, a family can have a goal of keeping the business in the hands of family members (continuity) but can have relatively little emotional connection to the business itself (enrichment). These goals show up, often unconsciously in how family leaders communicate about their family businesses.
This research found that family businesses that emphasize these non-financial goals more frequently in their communications also tend to demonstrate stronger social responsibility but weaker short-term financial performance. In other words, prioritizing legacy, continuity, community relationships, and reputation may involve tradeoffs. However, for many owning families, these non-economic goals are central to why they own and continue their businesses and may contribute to the family firms’ long-term sustainability and success.
RESEARCH SUMMARY & SUGGESTIONS
Willing and Able? Three Questions to Ask Before Pursuing a New Opportunity
by Dr. Laura Marler, Jim and Pat Coggin Professor of Management
Family entrepreneurs often engage in multiple endeavors and regularly identify new venture opportunities to expand their portfolios of business. Research demonstrates that family firms tend to consider non-economic goals such as family control, impact on the business, family identity and legacy, and community relationships, when making these decisions. Therefore, while determining if a business opportunity will be profitable is a key consideration for both family and non-family firms, non-economic considerations make family firm decision making unique. In a 2022 article written by my colleagues and me, we explain how non-economic goals fit in the decision-making process of a family entrepreneur. Image theory offers a useful explanation as to why profit considerations alone do not drive whether an entrepreneur will pursue an opportunity. We suggest that three types of images guide decision making: values, trajectory, and strategy.
Three Questions Every Family Business Should Ask
1. Values Image – Does this opportunity fit who we are?
- Does it reflect our family’s values?
- Does it protect our reputation?
- Would we be proud to have our family name associated with it?
2. Trajectory Image – Does this opportunity help us become who we want to be?
- Does it move us toward our long-term vision?
- Does it support the future we want for the business?
- Will it help the next generation succeed?
3. Strategic Image – Does this fit how we do business?
- Does it fit our capabilities?
- Does it fit the way we serve customers?
- Does it leverage our strengths?
- Can we realistically execute it well?
In summary, our article helps explain how non-economic goals guide decision making in family firms when family entrepreneurs are faced with new venture opportunities. In addition, it can be used as guidance by family entrepreneurs who are actively considering pursuing a new venture.
Vardaman, J. M., Markin, E. T., Penney, C. R., Marler, L. E., & McKee, D. N. (2022). Willing and able? The screening and adoption of habitual family venture opportunities. Family Business Review, 35(2), 126–139.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
A Future in Restaurant Ownership: Jay Huang
by Dr. Chelsea Sherlock, Assistant Professor of Management
Jay Huang
Tyummi Café and Pho Bowl is a family-owned Vietnamese restaurant in Starkville, MS, founded in 2021 with a mission to provide authentic Vietnamese cuisine and a welcoming café-style atmosphere. The restaurant differentiates itself through its commitment to quality and authenticity, particularly through its traditional pho broth made daily from real beef bones rather than premade mixes. In addition to Vietnamese dishes such as pho, rice platters, and fried rice, Tyummi has developed a strong market presence through its popular boba teas, fruit teas, and smoothies.
Its owners have extensive restaurant industry experience and operate Tyummi with a strong emphasis on family values, authenticity, and long-term continuity. Frequently occupied with their other four restaurants around the state, the Tyummi owners rely heavily on their college-age children to manage day-to-day operations in Starkville, demonstrating the family-centered structure of the firm.
I recently spoke with son Jay Huang, a 2026 graduate of MSU’s College of Business. Jay explained that he has been around the restaurant industry for most of his life and has developed a strong connection to his family’s business through his experiences. He is an owner in the family’s restaurant group.
Asked about his future involvement in the business, Jay expressed both enthusiasm and a long-term commitment to continuing his family’s legacy and growing it, stating, “I want to become the successor of my family’s business but also open up my own restaurant in the future.
“I want to be involved in it because I want to carry on my family’s legacy,” he continued. “That’s all we knew growing up, and it has carried us to the success that we have today.”
Throughout the interview, Jay described Tyummi’s culture as being centered on quality over speed, treating customers like family, and maintaining strong relationships with employees and suppliers. He also discussed how leadership development within the family follows a “learn by doing” philosophy in which future successors gain experience across all areas of restaurant operations before taking on greater responsibility.
Reflecting on his experience in the Family Business Management course during the fall semester, Jay explained that the course helped him recognize the importance of long-term succession planning.
“Not only do I want to take over the family business,” he shared. “But I also want the business to succeed down the line for many future generations.”
Before he joins the family business full time, Jay plans to further his education with a Master of Professional Accountancy degree through MSU’s Adkerson School of Accountancy.
INFORMATION – Developing Entrepreneurs
Shrinking the World: Study Abroad as Entrepreneurship Education
Dr. Erik Markin, Associate Professor of Management
Building on this foundation, the Innovation & Creativity class challenges students to think “outside the box.” The course encourages creative problem-solving, innovation, and unconventional thinking that can be applied not only to startups, but also to leadership roles within existing organizations.
The Experiential Innovation and Entrepreneurship class moves from theory to practice through hands-on, experiential learning in the makerspace environment. Working individually and in teams, students identify problems, test solutions, evaluate opportunities, develop business models, and develop prototypes. The course emphasizes creativity, communication, teamwork, and action-oriented learning that mirrors real entrepreneurial environments.
Entrepreneurship students also benefit from the strong business core within the College of Business, which prepares them for managerial, operational, and financial decision-making roles. Finally, they complete Venture Creation, the program’s capstone course, where they integrate their knowledge into a pitch-ready business plan designed to secure support, investment, and resources to bring their ventures to life.
Whether students aspire to launch their own ventures, lead within established organizations, or drive innovation in the marketplace, the entrepreneurship major equips them with the knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to succeed. By combining creativity, action, and business fundamentals, the program prepares graduates to thrive in an increasingly dynamic and entrepreneurial world.
For more information, contact Entrepreneurship Coordinator Dr. Erik Markin at [email protected] or explore our WEBSITE.
RESOURCES
Open Resources for Family Firms
- Familybusiness.org offers open access to articles written to help family businesses succeed. Research-based insights are shared with practitioners in mind.
- Entrepreneur & Innovation Exchange contains open-access articles, interviews, and videos based on applied entrepreneurship research written for founders and business leaders.
- SCORE provides free mentoring and education programs for small businesses through a large volunteer network of experienced executives.
- The Mississippi Small Business Development Center Network provides free business counseling, training, and resources to help entrepreneurs start, grow, and strengthen their small businesses.
- The U.S. Small Business Administration offers free courses, guides, and training through the SBA Learning Center.
- Family Business/Business Family Podcast is hosted by Zack Needles, editor-in-chief of familybusinessmagazine.com. Each episode features conversations with owners, advisors, and other family business professionals on all the things that make being part of a family enterprise so challenging – and so rewarding!
Mississippi SBDC
America’s SBDC
Mississippi State University is an equal opportunity institution.
Editor: Dr. Laura Marler
Head, Department of Management & Information Systems & Jim and Pat Coggin Endowed Professor of Management