Managing family business in Tanzania

The aim of the study was to determine challenges and opportunities of managing family business in Tanzania. Survey technique was used in data collection whereby a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. Data was analyzed using SPSS particularly the factor analysis and descriptive statistics. Finding show that learning, rewards and incentives, trust and commitment were as the prime opportunities that could influence the performance of the family enterprises. Additionally, lack of outside opinions, poor communication and lack of succession plans are the critical challenges facing these firms. The findings further reveal that family firms could enjoy care and loyalty, close ties and less managerial politics (bureaucracy) among its members which present a unique advantage over others. Most of the firms however financed their business activities through sharing resources, inheritance and owners’ equity. The study concludes that both the opportunities and challenges of managing small firms are unique attributes which could be advantageous if well exploited or detrimental if not addressed respectively. The attributes presenting the advantages should be natured and exploited by owners intelligibly whereas those which pose threats should be addressed carefully for smooth growth of these firms.