Guiding Family Business Owners through complex terrain – planning for the future, resolving conflicts, and bringing best practices to the enterprise – with clarity, patience, and steady judgment.

Owning privately held companies with other family members can be challenging. We help Owners define clear roles and governance structures, align on a vision for the future leadership and strategy of the family enterprise, develop and implement thoughtful succession plans, negotiate and agree to a buy-sell, understand estate plans, and advance philanthropic efforts. We facilitate the Owner room discussions that matter most, helping each owner to bring their best selves to the table.

Clients

Our clients have built companies that carry both economic value and family legacy. We help them think through how to navigate succession planning and prepare the next generation to be good owners, board members, or senior executives in management.
After a liquidity event, our clients have transitioned from owning an operating business to managing wealth and investments through a family office. We help our clients define and implement good governance and decision-making, long-term vision, and engagement.
Our clients have produced significant wealth and want to align on a shared philanthropic approach. We help clients develop a mission statement and impact goals, and implement the right group decision-making and processes for effective, values-led giving.

Services

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Succession Planning

We develop clear, thoughtful, comprehensive plans for ownership and leadership transitions. This includes defining roles, professional development, compensation philosophy, and a strategic vision for the future. And we help clients implement these transition plans.

Four people engaged in a serious discussion during a meeting in an office, with two women and two men, one of whom is speaking.

Conflict Navigation & Alignment

We facilitate difficult conversations and provide structured discussions when family members hold different views and approaches. Of course, some conflict or disagreement is healthy, but it is important for family members to ultimately align on the path forward.

A man in a shirt and tie giving a presentation to four people sitting at a table in a conference room. The man is pointing at a whiteboard filled with handwritten notes.

Governance Design

We typically create an Owner Council, where Owner decisions are made, including Owner strategy, asset allocation, dividend policies, and choosing leadership. We also help clients create a Board of Directors or Board of Advisors to guide management to execute the owners’ long-term vision.

Business meeting with five people in a conference room, one man standing and talking, holding glasses, others listening, some with papers and glasses, in black and white.

Next Generation Development

We help prepare the next generation to be great Owners, engaged board members, or senior executives in the company. This often requires some company education, executive coaching, and a definition of roles and goals.

Four people in business attire having a discussion in a modern conference room with large windows.

Owner Strategy & Financial Guardrails

We define the Owners’ strategic goals or long-term vision and articulate financial and non-financial guardrails, so that management execute against that vision. This may include work defining a mission, vision, values, and reporting in an Owner dashboard.

A diverse group of healthcare professionals, including nurses and doctors, are sitting around a table in a meeting room, laughing and sharing a moment of joy.

Philanthropy Strategy

We develop values-aligned philanthropic strategies that translate purpose into impact. This includes drafting a mission statement, setting decision criteria, and designing grantmaking processes that work for current and future generations.

About Lisa Beattie Frelinghuysen

Founder, LBF Advisory

Lisa Beattie Frelinghuysen is the founder and managing partner of LBF Advisory, a boutique family business advisory practice dedicated to guiding the owners of privately held businesses through complex situations. Drawing on a distinguished career in law, corporate leadership, and enterprise advisory, she is known for bringing clarity, structure, and long-term perspective to clients navigating challenging transitions.

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Our Approach

The journey requires both a clear vision and a steady hand

Family enterprise work is complex, and the transitions often feel insurmountable.

Working with an advisor who has shepherded numerous Family Owners through this process, with a series of best practices and good communication structures, can help your Family Business move forward with clarity and intention.

The work is never transactional; rather, our approach is routed in building long-term trust, partnership, and thoughtful decision making for the future. We often work with clients for several years, setting up their Owner Councils and building their leadership skills and decision making for enterprise success and family harmony.