News Release

October 1999

Introducing the Family Fortune Wheel

Westlake Village, CA--The California Family Business Institute, LLC has introduced The Family Fortune Wheel, a simple and comprehensive diagnostic tool, specifically designed for the family business and its professional advisor to obtain valuable and economic insight into the strategic, succession and exit options of a family business, according to Nelson Dodge, principal.

The Family Fortune Wheel is an easy to use product that measures risk factors in four key segments that are essential to the ongoing success of the family business: CEO/founder succession readiness; family relations; ownership structures; and management structures.

Using a detailed self-administered instrument, The Family Fortune Wheel synthesizes key perspectives by gathering independent and confidential responses to a common questionnaire completed by family business and key management members.

The compiled results are then reflected in the form of both a colored visual display and numeric universal and segment scores, to include Interpretation, which indicate the state of the business and its succession and exit readiness.

Family business owners love this tool because it gives a quick over view of where their strengths and weaknesses are and where they need to go to grow their business and maintain and improve good family relations, Ralph Daniel, Ph.D. and CFBI principal said.

They get it right away when they see the final colored wheel, Dr. Daniel continued. It identifies and confirms for them problem areas as well as areas of strength that can collectively be leveraged to attain their family and business goals.

Steven Blois, who along with his brother owns Blois Construction, Inc., a multi-million dollar construction company in Southern California agrees.   Jim and I took The Family Fortune Wheel. We've been in business for 33 years. The results really validated why we are so successful together.