How family businesses plan for growth opportunities ahead: survey

Family businesses are becoming more outward-looking, technologically enabled, and professionally managed, according to a Deloitte Private global survey.

Family businesses are quickly outpacing non-family-owned businesses in revenue

As family-owned businesses increase in size and influence globally, many are considering leading practices to scale innovation, expand across borders, and change their ownership to take advantage of the opportunities ahead.

Why it matters: 

A new Deloitte Private report finds family businesses are quickly outpacing non-family-owned businesses in revenue, and are evolving their growth and financing strategies to help navigate a rapidly changing and complex market environment.

• The survey of 1,587 family businesses across 36 countries, with an average of $2.8 billion in annual revenue, finds a growing focus on technology investments, market diversification, strategic partnerships, and shifts to next-generation leadership.

• The report includes in-depth interviews with 30 leaders, many from multibillion-dollar and century-old family enterprises.

The numbers:

• Revenue growth: Family business survey respondents forecast revenues to grow 12 per cent in 2025 and 14 per cent in 2026, up from an average global growth rate of 8 per cent in 2024. Additional research from Deloitte Private puts global family business revenue at $21 trillion in 2025.

• Digital-first focus: 40 per cent of family businesses surveyed report their primary growth lever is investing in operational technologies, such as AI. This was followed by increasing profitability via cost optimisation and efficiency improvements (39 per cent), something tech integration can aid.

• Regional reliance: Most family business revenue comes from home regions — except Asia Pacific, where 52 per cent is international, reflecting a legacy of cross-border strategy.

• Cross-border goals: Europe leads as the top target for expansion ambitions for 51 per cent of survey respondents, followed by North America and Asia Pacific.

• Capital strategies and hybrid ownership: Roughly half the survey respondents plan to increase their financing focus over the next two years with strategic partnerships/joint ventures (52 per cent), reinvesting retained earnings (51 per cent), and private equity investment (49 per cent).

By 2030, the number of family businesses globally could reach 19,744, with revenue projected to grow to $29 trillion — an 84 per cent rise from 2020, outpacing the 59 per cent growth expected for non-family businesses. Family businesses in North America and Asia Pacific are projected to see the largest revenue gains over this period, rising 97 per cent each.

Technology Enables Integrated Growth

The decision to prioritise technology adoption is not solely about modernisation for its own sake. According to Deloitte’s Now Decides Next: Generating a New Future report, organisations are integrating advanced technologies, such as AI, to achieve a range of outcomes: operational efficiency, cost reduction, risk mitigation, revenue generation, and faster, more accurate decision-making.

• Family businesses are no exception. For these organisations, technology also offers a way to preserve legacy strengths — such as personalised service, craftsmanship, and long-term stakeholder commitment — while scaling operations in a digital economy.

To achieve their aims, family businesses are applying digital tools across a range of functions:

• Operations and supply chain. Robotics, predictive maintenance, and AI-driven optimisation are streamlining processes.

• Customer engagement and marketing. AI supports customer segmentation, personalised campaigns, and real-time pricing strategies — enabling faster, more informed decisions across commercial functions.

• Workforce and human resources. Digital platforms are improving recruitment, training, and skills tracking, especially critical as workforce expectations evolve.

Cybersecurity. AI-enhanced threat detection and automated response are improving resilience.

• Business intelligence. Predictive models and data dashboards support scenario planning and faster executive decision-making.

Country Operations and Planned Expansion

Family businesses typically pursue expansion within their home region — a common approach given the benefit of local knowledge, networks, and infrastructure. Family businesses in Europe and Asia Pacific have the most geographically diverse operations, averaging nine countries each, followed by North America (seven), South America and Africa (five), and the Middle East (four).

However, when looking to grow their businesses abroad, family businesses in every region, except for South America, are looking to Europe as their top port of call. Several factors help the region stand out, such as the European Union’s single market of more than 450 million people, Europeans’ seasoned approach to governance and risk management, increased spending in sectors such as defence, and attractive valuations in the private equity space which create a favourable environment for family business expansion.

• In parallel, family businesses in the United States and abroad are evaluating the potential impacts of trade uncertainty and factoring those considerations into their planning and growth expectations.

Financing Strategies and Ownership Considerations

Determining which finance levers to pull can have a critical impact on the structure and operations of a family business. Some families aim to retain control and ownership, focusing on reinvesting retained earnings or securing bank loans for expansion. Others are open to releasing equity, turning to equity financing or private equity investment.

Facing generational succession, many family businesses are considering who they want to lead the business and how they want to structure it after the current generation of leaders steps down. Roughly one-quarter (26 per cent) of survey respondents globally report they are looking to bring in external investors/private equity, while 19 per cent are looking to increase non-family management’s ownership of the business. Another 12 per cent intend to go public, while 3 per cent are looking to sell the business altogether.

Such ownership decisions can be prompted by families looking to:

• Access further capital to grow their business through geographic expansion or M&A activity

• Sell part of their business to reinvest their wealth in a more diversified and de-risked manner, such as through a family office

• Bring in private equity investors to enhance governance, reporting, and performance metrics

• Sell their business to capitalise on favourable market conditions/high valuations

Bottom line: 

Family businesses are becoming more outward-looking, technologically enabled, and professionally managed, while preserving their values and long-term vision. Those who engage proactively with succession planning, governance reform, digital transformation, and risk mitigation should be better positioned to build lasting legacies in a fast-changing global environment.

Wolfe Tone is US Deloitte Private leader and vice chair, Deloitte Tax LLP; Adrian Batty is global family enterprise leader, Deloitte Private, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu; and Dr Rebecca Gooch is global head of insights for Deloitte Private, Deloitte LLP.         

As published in the 2 December 2025 edition of the WSJ CFO Journal

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