John Stepek is the son of a retired second generation family business owner. He lives and works in London as a finance journalist.
One of the first features I wrote was on how easy it can be to drift into the family business. I called it 'The Marshmallow Effect' – where an heir is dissuaded from making hard choices about their future by opting for the apparently soft, comfortable option of the family business, only to find once inside, the environment is somewhat suffocating and too sticky to leave.
