Case of a Transgenerational Entrepreneurship in the Cousin Consortium

Bruna Group

How this can be seen in the case of cousins and the senior generation working together in the family business were shared by cousins Andres and Antonio Bruna of the Bruna Group in Central America. They were interviewed by best-selling author and expert on corporate governance and family legacy succession, Guillermo Salazar.

Bruna Group is a 3rd generation family business situated in Costa Rica, Central America. They specialize in packaging chemicals and serving markets in Central and Latin America. A defining culture of this family business is their ability to attract involvement and participation from their younger generation. The conversation highlighted the following:

1. On attracting the cousins and the younger generation


2. On nurturing the entrepreneurial mindset among the young


3. On dealing with challenges and conflicts

On Attracting the Cousins and the Younger Generation

The cousins, Andres and Antonio shared different thoughts on what attracted them to being involved in the family business.

For Andres, he developed a love for being in the family business since he was a child. What helped foster this in him is that growing up his parents invited him to spend his school breaks in the business. And he found this a fun way to spend his vacations. As a young person the experience of observing his Dad work in the family business inspired him and planted the seed of desire to be in the family business.

For Antonio, he developed a love for the family business as an adult. He became closer to the family and this good relationship motivated him to become active in the family business.

From the Bruna cousin’s account, the good familial relations in parent to child relationship to cousin to cousin relationship and uncle / aunt to cousin relationships contributes to the creation of an atmosphere of teamwork, trust and stewardship. All which attract the younger generation and become a fertile soil for the younger generation to thrive in the family business.

Andres and Antonio Bruna are involved in the family business because it is for them an honor and a great experience to be able to continue the vision of their grandfather for the family and the business. Their grandfather had a vision of growing the family business to take care and provide security for the family. For Andres and Antonio, being part of this vision and purpose is both an honor and a responsibility they willingly torch on. For they find a strong emotional connection to the family and business.

This experience of the Bruna cousins is an illustration of rich family-resources in the form of the talents and emotional connection of the younger generation being invested in the family business. This family-resource is vital to transgenerational entrepreneurship in the family that enables them to be a united and dynamic force in creating value financially and socially across their generations.

On Nurturing the Entrepreneurial Mindset among the Young

The Bruna cousins shared how their elder generation have developed entrepreneurship mindsets among the younger generation. Being immersed in the business early on helped create a mindset of responsibility and training for real life. One of the cousins shared that when he was a teenager and his grades weren’t the best, his dad made him take responsibility by letting him work in the family business under his uncle who made him do sales calls. What he learned from his uncle was dealing with rejection and perseverance in the face of failures. At a young age, this was a significant learning for him of taking responsibility, of being exposed to realities of the business, understanding rejection, of moving forward after a failure. All of which are important principles of entrepreneurship. Notably, it is a culture of the Bruna family business to experience failures yet keep trying and winning. This culture is inculcated and taught to the Bruna family members starting when they are young.

Impact of Younger Generation of Leaders

The elder generations of the Bruna family allows the younger generation to lead and create new projects to expand the family business portfolio. As a result, the younger generation as experienced by cousins, Andres and Antonio, are motivated to perform the best that they can and put in genuine effort to the family business. Moreover, they are empowered to bring good ideas to expand the family business and to lead in the continuous improvement of their processes, services and products. Andres who is the Chief Technological Officer finds that as part of the younger generation it is their responsibility to accelerate the family business success through technology.

Developing the younger generation to be leaders and entrepreneurs breeds transgenerational entrepreneurship. It nurtures family - influenced capabilities to create new streams of entrepreneurial, financial and social value across generations1.

On Dealing with Challenges and Conflicts

Generational gaps, differing personalities and ways of doing things are common sources of conflict. The Bruna cousins shared about the reality of conflict in their family and business and how they meet this challenge.

For them, they see conflict as a reality for every business and are open to dealing with them. They find that conflict can be resolved as a team. Their senior family members and leaders have worked to reduce their temper. And the younger generation learned not to take things personally. On the other hand, the family has created a structure and family agreements that help them deal with preset and potential conflicts. This allows them to have differing points of view on a matter yet they are able resolve differences by first working on achieving an agreement and then put the matter to a vote to make a decision. They also shared that an important and beneficial mindset that they have in dealing with conflict is to work towards what is best for the company and the family as a whole.

The Bruna family also nurtures the family relationships by keeping in contact with each other and finding time to enjoy each other’s company and enjoy their shared interests.

The cousins shared that one part of their day that made it very fun are the lunches they have together for at least 2-3 times a week in the office. This is joined by family members in the business. These gatherings provide them with a space to talk about either business or family or just have fun and watch football games. This tradition has made the family members in the business belonging from different generations strengthen a common bond. For Antonio and Andres, one of their important contributions is in being a solution to the challenges they have as a family and a business. They contribute by not just business partners but also nurturing friendships among family members which is a great force in sustaining the family and business.

Keeping family connections strong is a valuable family-influenced resource in ensuring transgenerational entrepreneurship. A competitive edge of families in business.

Overall, the Bruna cousins in their enlightening conversation with Guillermo Salazar have illustrated the importance of the family to nurture the entrepreneurial mindset among the younger generation and for the family to promote an atmosphere of creating value together. These showcase transgenerational entrepreneurship at work in a family in business, the gold standard of sustainable success in a family enterprise system.

Habbershon & Pistrui, 2002