Family business confident about growth

Family-owned businesses in Thailand have dominated the business landscape, diversifying in every industrial sector with a combined wealth of more than 30 trillion baht, and ranked seventh in Asia Pacific in 2018¹. In the coming years, we will witness more family-run companies listed on the SET as the current family business owners believe it is a source of investment and professional recognition for the next generation. Along with this trend, family firms’ confidence regarding business growth in the near future is high.

In the past 12 months, most family businesses in Thailand (71%) saw higher sales growth compared to the Asia Pacific average (63%). Of this, 21% of Thai respondents revealed double-digit growth in 2018, which was less than the Asia Pacific average of 35%. Thai leaders were slightly more confident (64%) about business growth than APEC business leaders (60%), expecting that their companies will grow steadily in the next two years. In the meantime, 32% of Thai executives believed their business will grow quickly and aggressively, compared to 24% of APEC executives.

The survey also highlights the top three business trends that Thai family business leaders anticipate will happen in the next two years; 1) companies will have made significant steps in terms of digital capabilities, 2) companies will have significantly changed their business model, and 3) experienced professionals from outside the family will have been brought in to help run it. These results align with the thoughts from APEC leaders.

_{¹Bangkok Post}