When Deborah Mohr-Caldwell made the decision in 1996 to take over her father’s business, she wasn’t convinced it was the right move.

Despite the fact she literally grew up in the business her father founded in 1960 — she often helped out with office duties, an easy task considering the office was in her home during most of her childhood — Mohr-Caldwell had her doubts.

“I questioned myself a lot in the beginning,” she said. “Was I in this position because of some sort of entitlement? Or was I actually capable of doing the job and doing it well?”

What Mohr-Caldwell might not have known when she was spending all that time worrying about slipping into the boss’s chair at Goldie Mohr Ltd., an Ottawa-based construction company, was that she wasn’t alone.

For generations, parents and children across the country have struggled to keep their businesses in the family. For some, like the Mohr family, success has been the reward of those sleepless nights. For others, however, things don’t go as well.

Experts with the Family Firm Institute, an international organization which advises and provides research on family businesses across North America, have suggested 70% of those businesses won’t make it to a second generation and 90% won’t get to the third.

“Those are alarming statistics,” said Grant Walsh, director and co-founder of KPMG Enterprise’s Centre for Family Business. “The research was conducted maybe 15 years ago and it still applies today. It really begs the question, ‘What the heck is going on?’”

Much of the trouble lies in the process of succession — the passing of the business from one generation to the next, Walsh said.

“The whole process is plagued with challenges for both the owner and the next generation,” he said. “It creates a fairly high level of stress, which leads to discomfort and (saying) ‘Let’s not deal with this right now.’ Therefore the issues never get resolved.”

Walsh said some succession plans get bogged down in questions such as who can work in the business, what are the criteria for employment, is education necessary or would outside work experience help, and the business can’t survive beyond the point of succession.

But for all the failures, there are successes. For some family business owners, the history behind the company name is too precious to let fade away.

Mohr-Caldwell’s father ran the business out of the family home until she was 15 before deciding to move everything into an office away from the house. But while the work was still being done in her family’s living room and dining room and kitchen, Mohr-Caldwell often found herself chipping in on jobs such as answering the phone and office organization.

“When you’re dealing with customers, whether they’re in the room or on the phone, you must always be professional and act appropriately. This was very important to my father and I learned quickly how to be a professional,” she said.

For Lucie Martel, after having worked for a number of real estate companies for nearly a quarter century, it was time to take a leap of faith in 2006 and head out on her own — with a little help.

“I had spent so many years working for other people, doing things their way,” said Martel, who owns and operates Martels Real Estate Inc. with her husband Jacques and their 24-year-old son, Steven. “I thought it was time to do things the way I wanted them done.”

For the Martels, customer service is not just an important aspect of day-to-day business, it’s the cornerstone of their enterprise.

“When you work for someone else, you don’t always know for certain how your clients are being received,” Martel said. “We wanted to make sure our clients received the best service we could provide in a very consistent and dedicated way.”

Mohr-Caldwell said her father’s good professional reputation was built on customer service.

“A customer should always feel as if they’ve been treated fairly and in a consistent manner,” she said. “If things were done a certain way 20 years ago, I want them to be done the exact same way today.”

Taking over the business wasn’t always a certainty for Mohr-Caldwell, even though she landed where she feels she was meant to be.

These days, she’s comfortable running her dad’s company and she’s also at ease in her volunteer position as the president of the Ottawa chapter of the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise.

In generations past, Mohr-Caldwell said, young people may not have had the same type of exposure to career options as they do today.

For some kids, a family business may have been the only thing on their professional horizon.

It was certainly on Steven Martel’s radar. As a child, he couldn’t imagine doing anything other than following in his mother’s footsteps.

“Since I was a kid, I worked alongside her, doing whatever I could do to be a part of it,” said Martel, whose love of interacting with people fuelled his desire. “When I was 17 and still in high school, I was studying for my real estate licence. I actually got my licence two days after I turned 18. I just fell in love with it.”

Enthusiasm to follow a parent’s professional path may not be the reality for some families.

“If I’m a child and I’ve watched my parents work way too hard, way too long, never have any leisure time of their own, it’s business all the time, all at home, all at work, I see conflicts with them, conflicts within the family, why would I ever want this?” Walsh said.

“But the reverse is true, too. You could sit there and say, ‘You know, I’ve watched my parents work, I watched the way they did it with my brothers and my sisters or my uncles and my aunts, and I’ve seen them be very active in the community. I’ve seen all the benefits, the financial rewards they have (and) the satisfaction they get.’ ”

Whether or not children and grandchildren step up to keep their family businesses going, both Martel and Mohr-Caldwell are content right now, happily steering their businesses through even the harshest of economic storms.

They are also able to put to use a key element of the family-run business — their last names.

“If the name of the business is associated with success or trust or something you know will help you out in the long run, it might be wise to keep things as they are,” Mohr-Caldwell said. “But sometimes people choose to remove the family name and instead go with something that represents the nature of the business itself.”

Walsh said family business owners who don’t have their names attached to their enterprise often wish they did.

“It makes that commitment, and maybe that passion, a little stronger,” he said.

Steven Martel said while his mom was incredibly proud of the family’s reputation in the industry and was eager to have the name attached to the family business, he wasn’t so sure.

“For me, I like the idea sometimes of being able to walk down the street and nobody knows me,” he said. “But I understand why it was so important to her, and I’m proud of it as well.”

For Mohr-Caldwell, there was a never a doubt her dad’s name would remain on the letterhead.

“He was considered a very honest businessman by everyone who had dealings with him,” she said. “People trusted him and they continue to trust the business that bears his name.”

Martel said the concept of a family business has also made it easier to retain other staff members. “I think they get the feeling this is a family,” Martel said. “And when they work for us, it’s like they’re part of the family.”

Despite the fact their adventure is only three years old, Martel is hopeful her family, and its extended members, will be in the real estate business for many years to come.

“It just felt like the right time,” Martel said. “My son and my husband and myself — we were eager to do this.”

Will either business make it to the next generation? Only time will tell, but Steven Martel is hopeful things don’t end with him.

“I have a son who’s 18 months old and a baby on the way,” he said. “I would want my son to do whatever he feels is best for him as he’s growing up, but I certainly would love it if he followed in my footsteps as I did my mom’s.”