The NextGen must also take care of the next NextGen.

In the generational transition, the current generation is burdened with the prejudice of never wanting to leave room for the next generation. However true this may sometimes be, in practical experience alongside many entrepreneurial familiesfamilyandtrends one gets the idea that in most cases this really is just a prejudice. In the worst cases, it is even an excuse of the next generation, when instead of being eager to prove their worth and struggle to emerge they find it more convenient to say that they are not allowed to.

familyandtrends to approach the issue rationally, some time ago, defined the formula for when the process of generational transition should begin and end. Further studies and tests on the formula have revealed an element that places an additional responsibility on successive generations that is often underestimated even by the most conscientious: the need to ensure the existence of future generations by having children. Again, this is simple arithmetic: let us look at it.

The generational handover formula is based on the three stages of growth of a new entrepreneur: fascination, discipline and calling. The fascination phase: this is when the young person approaches the family business with curiosity and pride, beginning to internalise the values and entrepreneurial style of his parents and other family members; it lasts from the age of 5/8 until the age of 18/28, and lasts about 20 years. The discipline phase: this is the period in which one rigorously learns technical and managerial skills, often working outside the family business to train in complex and anonymous professional contexts, it goes from the age of 18/30 until the age of 35/45, it lasts about 10/15 years. The calling phase: this is the moment when one begins to express one's entrepreneurial identity, personalising what has been learnt and developing one's own long-term vision of the business and of how to adapt it to changing competitive contexts, starts before the age of 35/45 and lasts about 3/10 years.

The algebraic sum of the three phases determines the time needed to create a new entrepreneur as 33/45 years, 20 for the charm phase, 10/15 for discipline, 3/10 for calling.

This is a long period and necessary transitional phases; it is not for nothing that academia agrees that generational transition is a process and not an event. It is also a significant investment in terms of years, business planning, careful preparation, and entrepreneurial coaching; all seasoned with the normal difficulties of relations between generations and recurring business tensions. Why is this necessary? Because the moral duty of every entrepreneurial family is to ensure that in every generation there is at least one entrepreneur who can take care of the family business and its adaptation to the changing competitive environment, making it pass unscathed through the waves of Schumpeterian creative destruction.