PETER MAY Family Business Consulting

Owning a family business is not just a privilege. It carries obligations, too. You do not inherit just a business. You also inherit the entrepreneurial responsibility that goes along with it. We help you to exercise this responsibility in an optimal way. We work with you to develop the right concepts and solutions. We also assist you with their implementation. Competently. Expertly. Independently. And on the basis of a superior methodology.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MAY METHOD

Our Performance

Be a successful business owner

All family business owners want to be successful and do the right thing, no matter the role or situation in which they find themselves. By developing the INTES Principle a full 20 years ago, Peter May has created a concept with which you can optimize your own business achievements while suitably balancing the four major spheres of activity of any family business owner – company, family, assets and yourself. We would be pleased to work with you on your individual owner strategy.

With our skilled and experienced support, we also help you to take all practical steps to improve your personal business achievements – whether through coaching and training, as your right hand for key decisions and negotiations or by preparing you in stages for a new role.

Successful Succession

Succession is the supreme discipline for a family business. It is difficult, complex and highly emotional. With the help of our succession strategy based on the INTES Principle, we work with you to develop the right succession concept …

… and accompany you during important stages in its implementation, such as

Preparing successors for their business tasks in a targeted manner
Preparing seniors for a change in role
Creating and implementing emergency plans (powers of attorney, etc.)
Dealing with executor mandates
Ensuring what is intended is optimally implemented in terms of the legal and tax implications (through our legal colleagues)

The right Owner Strategy and Good Governance

The right owner strategy and good governance are key to family businesses that create value for generations. Peter May is considered a pioneer and inventor within these disciplines. He was the first to come up with family constitutions and laid the theoretical foundations for their professional elaboration with the Inhaberstrategiehaus® (owner strategy house) and Governance Code for Family Businesses. We use these as the basis for developing with you the owner strategies, family constitutions and governance concepts that work for your family and business.

We support you during all of the key implementation steps, such as

Establishing and implementing shareholder qualification programs
Finding the right structure and people for the necessary governance bodies (e.g. advisory boards, shareholder committees, family management)
Assuming advisory board and other governance mandates
Supporting staff selection decisions (e.g. for management or advisory board positions)
Preparation for and familiarization with new roles (e.g. as a family or non-family managing director, advisory board chairperson, etc.)
Taking all of the steps needed for a legally correct implementation (e.g. contracts, internal regulations, etc.) with the support of our legal colleagues.

Peaceful Conflict Resolution

When family and business are combined, disputes can arise. How much economic and emotional value is then destroyed depends to a large extent upon how well conflict is managed within the respective family and the expertise of the professionals that support this.

Our experienced mediators are masters of peaceful dispute resolution – without media or court attention, ensuring everybody saves face so that harmony can be restored. If you are not interested in winning or destruction, then you have come to the right place.

Partners

Prof. Dr. Peter May

Peter May is a pioneer and trailblazer of owner-strategic thinking in family businesses. With his demand for a dedicated business administration for family businesses, the development of a comprehensive consulting methodology, groundbreaking initiatives, countless publications, lectures and teaching activities both in his home country and abroad, as well as numerous successful consulting projects with leading family businesses, he has earned the reputation of being the “family expert ” (Handelsblatt) and “Germany's number one family business consultant” (Family Capital).

Dr. Arno Lehmann-Tolkmitt

Arno Lehmann-Tolkmitt, an experienced owner strategy consultant and mediator, is the prototype of a family advisor. He uses his very personal blend of expertise, experience and intuition to establish a link with all stakeholders. By clearly explaining factual issues and facilitating discussion around conflict, he produces good outcomes from even complex setups. His preferred activities include engaging in stimulating owner strategy processes, preparing the next generation for their future responsibilities and providing long-term support to owner families. His actions are always guided by the motto: “Anticipate, don’t procrastinate, and clarify, don’t quarrel.”

Dr. Matthias Händle

Matthias Händle is the business owner within the PETER MAY Family Business Consulting team. After many successful years at the helm of his in-laws’ family business, he decided after its sale that he would like to pass on the skills and experience he had acquired to other family business owners in the future. As a sparring partner, coach and advisory board member, Matthias Händle knows exactly what he’s talking about, from finding the right owner strategy to preparing for or adapting to a new role.

Dr. Dominik von Au

Dominik von Au is considered one of the leading experts on family businesses and the “top advisor to the succession generation in our country” (Manager Magazin 10/20). For more than fifteen years, he has assisted entrepreneurial families in drafting family constitutions and succession paths, among other things, as well as in advising on strategic issues from the shareholder perspective. In addition, he often ensures implementation as an active member of the advisory board in family businesses and family offices and is a sought-after sparring partner for the “NextGen” of family entrepreneurs.

Martina Reischmann

As a member of the sixth generation of a traditional family-run business from southern Germany, Martina Reischmann is familiar with the dynamics at play in owner families and the various aspects of succession from a personal perspective. Martina Reischmann translates her experience from her own family-run business, as a manager in the field of human resources and as a business coach, as well as her academic background as an Executive Master for Family Entrepreneurship, into providing guidance and support in succession processes.

Amelie Eichblatt

Amelie Eichblatt’s work focuses on supporting family businesses in succession and conflict situations. To implement sustainable changes, she develops owner strategies and family constitutions with entrepreneurial families. The certified business mediator started working with entrepreneurial families at the private bank Berenberg in Hamburg, where she headed the Competence Centre for Entrepreneurs and the Next Generation until the end of 2018. Afterwards, she became a sparring partner for the Next Generation of numerous family businesses as a Family Governance Consultant at PwC. Amelie Eichblatt joined PETER MAY Family Business Consulting as a partner in January 2022.

Dr. Katja Portz

In her work with entrepreneurial families, owner strategy consultant and business mediator Katja Portz combines a structured approach with a high degree of empathy and thus creates a basis of trust in a short time, which helps to tackle even difficult issues at the root. In addition to optimising management and control systems, she accompanies family businesses in succession and conflict situations and develops owner strategy processes and family constitutions together with them. Katja Portz challenges by posing key questions and thereby creating new perspectives and opportunities. Her intuition for the dynamics within shareholder groups helps her to promote an open and trusting cooperation amongst family members addressing difficult issues.

Elias Resinger

Elias Resinger, owner strategy consultant and family business expert, supports owner families in succession and conflict situations, particularly in Austria. He works with families to develop owner strategies and family constitutions. His focus lies on the early involvement of the next generation and their preparation for new roles, as well as the long-term support of owner families. Elias Resinger knows exactly how to make different points of view visible, how to carefully identify potential areas of conflict at an early stage and, thanks to his communication and moderation skills, how to resolve them with great sensitivity.