We professionalise family firms before succession becomes a crisis.
We help owners build a company that doesn't depend on one person: clear decision-making rules, professional management, prepared successors and well-ordered ownership. Strategy, governance, succession and family dynamics — in one place.
Real stories of successionA conversation with Nebojša Šaponjić (Nelt) on the succession process and developing the next generation.
We have worked with owners, successors and boards of companies across the region and Europe.
From manufacturing and distribution to IT, retail and professional services.
More than 200 family businesses and entrepreneurial companies supported through professionalisation, governance and succession.
From local family businesses to regional leaders — the shared goal is the same: to build a company that lasts for generations.
Companies Connected is not just another consulting firm. We bring together advisory, education, community and the leadership of the FBN network — a combination no one else offers in the Adria region.
Strategy, governance and succession through an ownership transformation framework, across 200+ engagements.
An academy, a master programme, a virtual board and events — knowledge that lifts whole teams and families.
Through "Ja, Preduzetnik" we are in constant contact with hundreds of entrepreneurs — our tools come from real problems.
Đorđe Petrović leads FBN Adria — the regional chapter of the world's largest network of family businesses.
Through FBN Adria, the Academy and our events we bring together hundreds of owners, successors and leaders — and together we shape the standards of family business in the Adria region.
Companies Connected is not only an advisory firm. Through education, community and international networks we connect owners and successors across the region — an advantage few in the region have.
A family business is not an ordinary company with a family inside it. It operates simultaneously through three systems — business, ownership and family. Most problems arise when these three systems develop at different speeds: the founder remains the central point of decision-making, successors have no clearly defined roles, and responsibilities and processes haven't kept pace with the company's growth.
That's why for more than a decade we have worked exclusively with family businesses. Over that period we have worked with more than 200 companies in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union. We help owners and successors professionalise operations, define governance structures, order the relationship between family and business, and prepare the company for the next generation.
Our work brings together strategy, organisational design, corporate governance, family governance, succession and Lean & Kaizen transformation into one integrated system.
One of the leading experts on family businesses in the Adria region. For twenty years he has worked with owners and successors on the questions that decide a company's fate: how to hand over control without losing it; how to professionalise without alienating the family.
As CEO of FBN Adria — the official regional chapter of Family Business Network International, the world's largest network of family businesses — he connects owners from the region with global knowledge and standards.
Every engagement starts from a concrete challenge facing the family and the company, not from a methodology. Here's where we most often begin.
The company depends too much on the founder. We introduce processes, management and accountability so the business works even when the owner isn't in the room.
Learn more →Decisions are made chaotically and all pass through the owner. We establish a board of directors, an advisory board and clear decision-making rules.
Learn more →The transfer of ownership and control isn't defined. We build a succession plan that protects both the company and the family, and implement it step by step.
Learn more →Successors aren't ready or lack legitimacy. We develop their competencies, role and authority — by plan, not overnight.
Learn more →There are no written rules, so every conflict starts from scratch. We establish a family constitution, a family council and assembly, order ownership and align the owners.
Learn more →The strategy is unclear and accountability isn't measured. We set the strategy, organisational design and a system of KPIs and OKRs.
Learn more →Our framework isn't a list of consulting phases — it is the firm's intellectual property, bringing strategy, organisational design, Lean & Kaizen, KPIs/OKRs, governance and succession into a single process. Seven connected steps, as deep as your company needs.
We assess the state of the company and the family: dependence on the founder, the quality of governance, successor readiness and the key risks. The result is a clear map of priorities.
We define the direction of the company and the owner: where we grow, what we give up, and how ownership and business move in the same direction.
We set the organisational design, roles and responsibilities — so the company has a structure, not just people around the founder.
We introduce Lean & Kaizen and standardise the key processes, so that quality and efficiency don't depend on individuals.
We set up a system of measurement and goals — accountability becomes visible, and progress measurable at every level.
We establish both branches of governance: corporate (board, advisory board, decision-making rules) and family (council, assembly). The owner moves from operations to governing.
We carry out the transfer of control and ownership and confirm it with a family constitution. The company is ready for the next generation.
A brief look behind the scenes of working with owners and successors of family businesses — from strategy workshops and board meetings to work on the factory floor and in the field.
Hard numbers and the owners' own words — in one place. A selection of engagements with family businesses from the region.
Professionalisation of the company, organisational development and managing growth.
"We didn't believe we could step back from the operational side of the business and have the company keep working without us."
Corporate strategy, business strategies and organisational design.
"Excellent work with Đorđe helped us create our corporate and business strategy."
Professionalisation of the business, organisational design and a family constitution.
"An exceptional collaboration with Đorđe, who helped us establish a clear organisation within our company and our family."
The company stalls the moment you're not present, and you have no time for what truly matters.
The next generation is in the company, but without a clear role, authority or development plan.
Revenue is rising, but processes, governance and accountability aren't keeping up with that growth.
If you recognised even one of these challenges, a diagnostic consultation is the first step.
A diagnostic consultation is a confidential conversation in which we map together where your company stands today and what the first three steps are. No obligation.