The Aristizabal Family: Growth of a Family Firm?

Mr. Manuel Aristizábal was the founder of San Basilio, a restaurant that began operations in 2001. Angelina, Manuel's wife, started to work at the family firm on trial. Very soon, however, her organisational and managerial capacities meant that she became completely involved in the business. The business' growth was very conservative when Manuel and his wife were in charge. When Martín (their son) returned from studying abroad, he proposed new challenges for the family firm. Martín set up a catering service for San Basilio, led the opening of an additional branch, and began a successful ice cream business. The first two opportunities were leveraged in San Basilio, his parents' business; the new branch and the earnings from the catering service were important economic benefits just for him. Martín is the sole owner of the ice cream business. However, San Basilio's growth started to exceed its operational capacity, and, according to Angelina and Anette (their daughter), its financial performance was at risk. Angelina and Anette were interested in slow growth for the business and in maintaining the family ties, which had weakened due to the Martín's entrepreneurial activities. Martín's proposal to pass the catering service to San Basilio was the straw that broke the camel's back. He had been running it on his own and now wanted his parents to assume control of the whole operation and to give him a commission for the business whose original idea and current performance were the result of Martin's management.

• Strategy
• Succession planning
• Growth strategy
• Entrepreneurial management