Sharbatly: fourth generation family business in Saudi Arabia

Seifallah M. Sharbatly, deputy general manager of Mohammed Abdallah Sharbatly talks about family business and how the Sharbatlys are approaching the succession.

He says, “We evolve like the rest of the world; now, you see family business being run in the third or fourth generation. This is the most critical stage in the company, if we manage to get through this stage, then the family business would continue. Ninety-five percent of businesses that continue after that fourth generation threshold usually last for hundreds of years. Today, families in these companies are writing by-laws on how to take it to the next step. In my case, the situation is manageable because we are only three brothers, but we all have sons now and look to the future of the company. We are regulating the relationship between the owners and the business, and we need to differentiate the family business and the business of the family. That is one of the biggest challenges that face family businesses, is that you take family problems to the office, and business problems home – you need to try and separate these two issues, as much as possible.”

Sharbatly is one of the leading family business in Saudi Arabia. Read more about the family at the end of the interview – Agriculture: Saudi Arabia not suitable for agriculture due to lack of water