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Welcome to our restaurant, where each of our sisters has a special role!
Family owned. Shut up! No, you shut up!

A Family Business is any organization run by people who happen to be related. It could be anything, in any time period, across any setting. There is often an expectation that at least one of the children (usually the eldest son) will carry on the legacy, which may lead to Follow in My Footsteps. This is very much Truth in Television, as many small businesses are family-owned and operated, and it isn't uncommon for even large companies to have the child or grandchild of the founder at least remain on the board of directors if they don't become the CEO.

If the family business is big enough, then expect writers to treat it as a setting for royal drama with modern twist where the business is the kingdom, the founder and CEO is the king/queen, the founder's children is the prince and princess and the shareholders and the boards is the nobles and implement some Royalty and Nobility Tropes such as Altar Diplomacy, 0% Approval Rating, Universally Beloved Leader, Siblings Share the Throne or Princeling Rivalry.

Sometimes used in Sit Coms to allow for a genre crossover between Dom Com and Work Com.

Not to be confused with The Family's "Business", though there is frequent overlap.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • In Hunter × Hunter, the Zoldyck family is literally a family of assassins. From the great grandfather to the youngest of the bunch.
  • Being a deconstruction of the Fighting Series Played for Laughs, Ramen Fighter Miki has the Onimaru Chinese Restaurant as an interesting case: Makiko Onimaru owns the restaurant, she cooks and has only one employee: her daughter, Miki Onimaru,is a Poster Girl who loves to slack at his job, never delivers the ramen on time, and doesn’t know how to cook. The only reason she still gets her job is because she is Makiko’s daughter, and Makiko continuously beats her up trying to check Miki in line.
  • In Glasslip, the Fukami family runs a glass shop, and Tōko herself aspires to become a glass artisan.
  • In Delicious in Dungeon, the Tansu's Dungeon Crawling party consists of a married couple and their adopted children, though they do hire some extra help when they need it.
    • There's also Team Touden, the main party, which was started by a pair of siblings.
  • Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba:
    • Despite the Kamado family being made out of humble charcoal burners and sellers, Tanjiro states his ancestry is very well documented with centuries of family members properly registered in their records, it's how Tanjiro can be so sure to affirm he does not descend from the Sun Breathing family of Samurai, the Tsugikuni family.
    • The series' strongest demon slayers, the Hashira, has the Flame Hashira spot seemly taken by just one family; Kyojuro Rengoku is the current the Flame Pillar just like his father was and several past generations of Rengoku family members dating back to at least the time the dangerous demon Kokushibo was human, potentially 300 years ago; Kyojuro says the Flame Breathing always produces a Hashira no exception, so it seems the Rengoku family pretty much has an extensive record of Hashira in their records.
  • In Digimon Tamers, Takato's family owns a bakery while Juri's own a tavern. Takato is seen helping his parents once in a while and it's implied that Juri does it too, since she tells Takato when she's dragged away by orochi that she's used to deal with drunkards.
  • In YuYu Hakusho, Keiko Yukimura's family owns a local ramen shop.
  • Two of these show in Captain Tsubasa: Sanae's family owns a local ice cream parlor, while Ishizaki's owns a sento or bath house. In the World Youth Cup manga, Ishizaki tells his girlfriend Yukari that he's well aware of his family needing him more, so he won't actually play soccer for too long.
  • Marmalade Boy shows that Shinichi Namura's family owns one in Kamakura. When Namura has to resign after his and Meiko's romantic affair blows in their faces, Namura returns to help the family.
  • In Girls und Panzer:
    • Maho stands to inherit her mother's position as head instructor of the Nishizumi school. This suits Maho fine, as it takes some pressure off of Miho to perform according to the "Nishizumi-style" their mother wants.
    • Hana Isuzu is the daughter of the head of the Isuzu Flower Arrangement school. Her mother becomes upset that Hana takes a "barbaric" sport like tankery and cuts ties with her for a while, but the two reconcile.
  • Kaori's parents from Your Lie in April runs a cake shop named "Ma Fille", French for "my daughter", as revealed in OVA episode.
  • Several of the major characters in Food Wars! have come to Totsuki from family-run restaurants to hone their skills.
    • Soma has run the blue-plate diner Yukihira with his dad for years, and has no ambitions beyond graduating and taking over.
    • Megumi's family run a ryokan somewhere in Tohoku, and Megumi began to cook to help in the business.
    • The Aldini brothers are the heirs to a trattoria somewhere in Tuscany which is currently run by their uncle.
    • Houjou Miyoko's family run a famous Chinese restaurant in Yokohama.
    • The Nakiri family are a gastronomic powerhouse, with Senzaemon acting as chairman of the Totsuki group and headmaster of the school, Soe being in charge of day-to-day operations, Leonora running the Totsuki group's R&D-division, and Alice and Erina doing their (very impressive) best to follow in Leonora's and Senzaemon's footsteps, respectively.
    • Arato Hisako has also joined the family business, albeit in a roundabout way. The Arato family have been the Nakiri family's personal physicians for generations, but Hisako chose to work as Erina's aide and let her family's knowledge of medicinal herbs form the foundation of her cooking.
    • The Mito family own one of the biggest meat-packing operations in Japan, and Ikumi's tenure at Totsuki is part of her father's efforts to groom her to take over the business.
    • Satoshi Isshiki and Nene Kinokune are the scions of the two great lineages in washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine), with the Isshikis representing the Kyoto style from the West and the Kinokunes representing the Eastern Edo-style.
  • In Yuri!!! on Ice, Yuri Katsuki's family runs Yu-topia Katsuki, the last remaining hot springs resort in the Kyushu town of Hasetsu. Since the family name "Katsuki" is part of the business' name, it's likely that it's been a family business for a while.
  • In Case Closed, Makoto Kyougoku's family owns a popular beach resort in the Izu coast. In between travelling throughout the world in katate competitions, Makoto helps out his parents by being a waiter whenever he comes home. In fact, that's how he's introduced.
  • In RaButa, Harundo's family owns a butcher shop. He inherits it post-series.
  • The Takamachi family in Triangle Heart 3: Sweet Songs Forever runs a cafe. This carries over to Lyrical Nanoha. Miura's family in ViVid also runs a restaurant, fitting with her role as Nanoha's Expy.
  • Ilulu gets a job at the Aida family's candy store in chapter 51 of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid. Taketo is set to inherit it, but he's mentioned to not really be interested (though given all the Ship Tease he has with Ilulu, it probably will end up staying in the family anyways).
  • The Suzuya bakery in Asteroid in Love is owned by Moe's parents. Moe and Megu also needs to help with its business, such that Moe is too busy with the bakery to commit to any Japanese School Club.
  • Two such businesses exist in New Game!. Tsubame "Naru" Narumi is heiress to the Narumi family inn, while Momiji "Momo" Mochizuki is the younger daughter of the owners of Mochizuki Dairy. Momo's older brother is set to inherit the business, leaving her free to pursue her dream of becoming a character designer. Unfortunately, Naru's goal of working alongside Momo as a programmer causes her to clash with her parents, who want her to inherit the inn.
  • In Bloom Into You, Yuu's maternal grandmother owns a bookstore, and Yuu and her parents work there. Touko's rather surprised to find that Yuu's family owns the Fujishiro bookstore, since it has Yuu's grandmother's maiden name rather than Yuu's name(Koito).
  • Nagasarete Airantou: Each family on the island were assigned a job or crops to farm which is passed down to the children as well. And it's frowned upon to steal other's jobs. If you want to try something else you become an apprentice of that family. Or have to prove in a competition that you are better at the job.
  • In Future GPX Cyber Formula:
    • Both the Sugo and Aoi families own major Japanese automotive companies and both have rival racing teams in their names. Kyoko, the daughter of the owner of Aoi, is the team owner of the latter.
    • Naoki Shinjyo’s family run a tea ceremony school in their chashitsu (tea room) and he enjoys making teas to guests in the room in his spare time.
    • If supplemental materials are to believed, Jackie Gudelhian‘s family owns a supermarket chain in the US, but he has no involvement in the business itself.
  • Most of the cast of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War are the children of CEOs and the like, and almost all of them have picked up at least some of the skills of their parents trades even if they aren't set to inherit the family company. Even Shirogane, one of the few Scholarship Students in the school, dreams of one day regaining control of his father's pharmeceutical company, which was stolen by Kaguya's eldest brother when he was a child.
  • In Rumiko Takahashi's series Maison Ikkoku, Yusaku Godai's family operate their own restaurant.

    Comic Books 
  • Dollicious : The series focus on family of eight sisters running a restaruant.
  • Robin: Ariana's aunt and uncle end up loosing their family owned deli due to competition from larger businesses driving up the rent prices and taking potential customers, though they later open up a restaurant in a different part of town.

    Fan Works 
  • Present in the Puella Magi Madoka Magica fic To the Stars in form of the Matriarchies. Due to events that raised the Magical Girl's life expectancy from less than a decade to centuries, it was noted that girls who want to contract have higher chances to do so if they are related to Magical Girls (in this fic being a Magical Girl does not prevent pregnancies). It didn't take long before it became a family business. The main protagonist is in an unenviable position of being related to two mutually antagonistic Matriarchies.
  • In The Sanctuary Telepath the London Three's unnamed network. While it's stated that they don't have a real hierarchy, they are clearly the leaders (and founders) and they manage to be the trope despite not having a single biological connection between the three of them. John and Janine are adopted siblings and Janine is married to James, who is John's best friend.
  • The Diamandis Corporation in Anywhere But Here was founded by Whitney "White" Diamandis, her daughter and daughter-in-law Yellow and Blue joined and it was expected of Pink to join them as well.
  • Fredbear's Family Diner is this in Something Always Remains. It was founded by Bonnie Wickes in honor of her dead husband, Freddy, then taken over by her uncle-in-law, William after her death, where it was then rebranded into Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. After numerous tragedies, and closing down for two years, it re-opened again under the management of her niece, Vanna.
  • The FTS Aquarium (its real name being "M. Flounder's Cipher Headquarters") in All Mixed Up! is a business handed down to Mariana Mag from her father, the previous owner. Owning aquariums in general is also a chosen career path that runs in the family.

    Films — Animated 
  • The noodle shop run by Po's adoptive family in Kung Fu Panda. Played for laughs because Po is very obviously adopted.
    Mr. Ping: Soon, you will inherit the shop, as I inherited it from my father, who inherited it from his father, who won it from a friend in a game of mahjong!
  • Used a few times in Atlantis: The Lost Empire. His grandfather's influence led to Milo having a love for Archaeology, and Audrey joined her father as a mechanic. It's played for laughs with Vinnie, an Explosives Nut, whose florist parents wanted him to join the family business. He relates that the first time he tried to become a florist he got bored, played around with some explosives, and blew up the Chinese laundromat next door. He does say that he (now that he's ridiculously wealthy) is thinking about opening up the shop again.
  • Manolo from The Book of Life, comes from a long line of bullfighters on his father's side.
  • In Turning Red, the Lee family temple is run by Mei and her family.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • In Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Sally asks where's her brother since his father's theatrical troupe was "Salt & Son" He told him there was no son but it was the tradition to put that.
  • Aquaman (2018): In a combination with The Family That Slays Together, David Kane and his father Jesse lead a crew of Submarine Pirates, engaging in treasure hunting, underwater salvage and occasional piracy.
  • In Cassandra's Dream, dramatic events probably wouldn't have unfolded if one of the two brothers had been satisfied to keep on running his father's restaurant... and hadn't agreed to help the uncle with the trouble in his business. They're not actually The Mafia, but the subtext exists.
  • CODA: The Rossi family operates a fishing business, which Ruby is instrumental to as she helps translate for her deaf parents and brother.
  • Gleahan and the Knaves of Industry: The Johnson Brewing and Mining Company has changed a lot over the years, but it's always stayed in the Johnson family.
  • The Godfather, for the ultimate "family business". Mafia business aside, they also ran an import business for olive oil.
  • In Hop, the Easter Bunny is apparently a family business. The central conflict of the film is that the latest heir would rather be a drummer than take up the title.
  • The Cabots (father and son) in Reservoir Dogs.
  • The Larrabee family in Sabrina runs a Family Business Empire. Their name shines on lots and lots of brass plaques at the main entrance of skyscraper-sized headquarters.
  • Our Miss Brooks: In The Movie Grand Finale, the Nolans run the city's newspaper, "The Madison Express". They also own a television station and building downtown. Lawrence Nolan is currently the editor of the paper. Lawrence expects his son Gary to inherit his position at the paper.
  • Tommy Boy: Callahan Auto Parts has been owned and run by Tommy's family ever since it was started by his great grandfather. The plot is driven by the main characters working to ensure it stays that way.
  • In When Darkness Falls, Aram owns a restaurant together with his brother Dana and his sister Nadja.
  • The Peabody's in Why Be Good? own a department store. Winthrop Peabody Sr is the owner while his son, Winthrop Jr, is head of personnel.

    Literature 
  • Absolutely Truly: Truly's family has been running Lovejoy's Books in Pumpkin Falls for many generations. Truly stated they've been doing it since before The American Revolution.
  • Dragon Queen: Trava and her father own and run a tavern.
  • In The Last Dragon Chronicles, Elizabeth Pennykettle and her daughter specialize in the making of clay dragons that come to life.
  • Over the Wine-Dark Sea: Sostratos and Menedemos are cousins working for a shipping business owned by their respective parents
  • Thomas Mann's novel Buddenbrooks, describing the slow and painful decline of a merchant dynasty in Lübeck, Germany.
  • In the Aunt Dimity series, the international law firm of Willis and Willis is run in Boston by William Willis Sr. and his son Bill. They contact Lori Shepherd to inform her of Dimity's bequest. Eventually, Lori marries Bill, and he runs the English branch of the firm from an office in Finch.
  • In The Bible, both king and priest are generally intended to be inherited positions, though certain lines can be cut off from it. By the New Testament era, however, the position of king was taken by a Roman and priests were installed based on who paid the most to be one.
  • Discworld:
    • In Going Postal the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company was founded by Robert Dearheart, before getting taken over by a ruthless consortium fronted by Reacher Gilt. As of Raising Steam, the Trunk is run by Adora Belle Dearheart.
    • Several books feature the Boffo Joke and Novelty Company, run by Mrs Proust and her sons Jack and Derek.
    • The Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork has been in the hands (some might say "clutches") of the Lavish family - and at the mercy of their eternal petty feuding with each other - for generations, until Mrs Topsy Lavish dies, leaving her shares to the dog, and her dog to Moist von Lipwig.
  • Dragaera: Valabar's restaurant has been run by the same Easterner family for thousands of years, during which time it has indisputably cemented its reputation for having the best food in the Empire.
  • In The History Of Bees George’s bee farming has been the family business since they first got off the boat in America, using the same tried and tested beehive for generations. He’s hopeful his son, Tom, will carry on and expand the business. However, in a case of Like Father, Unlike Son, Tom is more interested in continuing his studies and hopefully becoming a writer.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Are You Being Served? was set in Grace Brothers' department store. The ancient Young Mister Grace put in several appearances; his brother Old Mister Grace didn't get about much.
  • The Bluth Company in Arrested Development.
  • On Barney Miller, a 50ish painting contractor came from "[Lastname] and Son." Barney asked him what time his son was going to get there; he responded "I'm the son." It had been his father's business, but he retired; the son's son wasn't interested in a career in painting, he wanted to be a musician. The son just didn't have the heart to take his old man's name off the company title.
  • Billy the Exterminator: Billy's parents run Vexcon and his co-workers include his brother Ricky and (briefly) his & Ricky's wives.
  • Blue Bloods: The Reagan family is all involved in law enforcement. All of the adult males are either members of the NYPD or have retired. Nicki, the daughter of Erin Reagan, has announced her desire to join the NYPD as well in an episode.
  • BOB ❤️ ABISHOLA: MaxDot Therapeutic Hosiery. The company was created by Max and Dottie Wheeler. Their son Bob is the current president, Douglas is head of Human Resources (at least until Dottie demotes him to the factory floor in order to teach him responsiblity) and Christina is head of sales (until she quit the company altogether because no one took her seriously).
  • Ojai Foods from Brothers & Sisters was founded by William Walker and later run by his son Tommy and daughter Sarah. His brother-in-law, Saul, managed the accounting.
  • The Company You Keep:
    • The Nicolettis are an entire family of con artists.
    • Patrick Maguire is a crime boss, with his daughter Daphne as his loyal lieutenant while his son Connor is his heir apparent.
  • CSI: NY has an episode with a criminal version. An ailing car thief retires and two of his three daughters take up the "business" by boosting Ferraris with a Password Slot Machine device he invents for them to gain access thru the cars' keypad door locks.
  • Scavo's, the pizzeria Tom and Lynnette open on Desperate Housewives.
  • Duck Dynasty: Phil Robertson founded "Duck Commander", a duck-call manufacturing company. His son Willie is CEO, and the majority of its employees are also Robertson family members.
  • The business in the Showtime documentary series with the same name as this trope is of course this. Being it's on Showtime, you can probably guess what the Family Business is.
    • Hint: The patriarch is better known as Seymour Butts.
  • Mama Fina's, the Morales family's taco shop in Gentefied. It is owned and operated by The Patriarch Casimiro (after his wife and the store's namesake, Delfina, passed away), and his three adult grandchildren help out. He hopes that one of his descendants will eventually take over.
  • Little House on the Prairie had the Olesons' Mercantile and Nellie's Restaurant/Hotel.
  • Kitchen Nightmares features several such restaurants, and family drama is a common cause of these restaurants being on the verge of ruin. In such cases, expect Gordon to play "Family Counselor" for the episode.
  • Magic City: Ike owns 51% of the hotel. Ike and his son Stevie work in the hotel. Danny is a law student. Vera appears to be a hostess. She also later dances in the hotel. Lauren goes to Hebrew school.
  • The Nutt House: The titular hotel was founded by the Nutt family, and is still owned by Edwina Nutt and her grandson, Charles Nutt III.
  • Oshin:
    • Oshin's second work is at one of these, led by the Yashiro family. Her Benevolent Boss Kuni treats her like a daughter, and Kuni's eldest granddaughter Kayo becomes Oshin's lifelong friend.
    • Oshin woprks hard to build one of these for herself, going from seamstress work to hairdressing to restaurants. In her late years she becomes the well-respected owner of a supermarket chain, with her second son Hitoshi as her Number Two.
  • Mrs. Nestor's private elementary school in the last television season of Our Miss Brooks. Mrs. Nestor is principal, her sister (also named Mrs. Nestor) become the new principal, her brother Munsee is vice principal.
  • Pawn Stars: The Gold & Silver Pawn Shop is run by Rick and his father, "Old Man" and employs his son, "Big Hoss".
  • The Protector 2011 episode "Blood" centered on a family run restaurant operated by a mother, her oldest son and her daughter. The younger son wants to open up a second restaurant under the same name to expand the Family Business but financial and personal issues threaten to derail everything.
  • Ready or Not (1993): Sam Ramone operates a butcher's shop where his family works.
  • Schitt's Creek: Johnny Rose founded Rose Video, and his actor wife Moira helped by appearing in internal employee videos about topics like sexual harassment, but his children had no interest. However, after the family goes broke and Johnny becomes part owner of The Rosebud Motel, Moira, David and Alexis are all seen pitching in at the motel, even as they have their own careers.
  • Every single CEO of Lumon, the corporation at the heart of Severance (2022), has been a member of the Eagan family.
  • The funeral home in Six Feet Under. The Fishers have been funeral directors for three generations, but both sons of the youngest generation are at best ambivalent about it. Claire is on the other hand dissatisfied that she inherited only a sum of money, relatively small compared to a share in the firm. Mrs Fisher, their mother, is involved in the work as well, though she stops working for the company and is merely helping from time to time.
  • Steptoe and Son: Old Albert and his son Harold. Their scrap business was founded by Albert's father, which actually makes Albert the "Son" in the firm's title.
  • "Saving people. Hunting things. The family business." In Supernatural, Sam initially doesn't want to carry on the legacy while Dean, the eldest son, does.
  • The Korean Drama, Twinkle Twinkle is based around the infighting between siblings at a publishing house.
  • Albeit unofficially, Keith Mars's private eye business in Veronica Mars, which he runs with his daughter Veronica.

    Podcasts 
  • Wooden Overcoats: Funn Funereals was started in the 1500s by Gilbert Funn, and it hasn't left the family since. Today, twins Rudyard and Antigone run it, having been taught the trade by their parents.

    Roleplay 
  • Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues:
    • Mirielle's adoptive parents run their own bakery, which Mirielle fully intends to take over once they retire.
    • Devin comes from a long line of politicians, and has been groomed to follow in their footsteps. This explains his manipulative personality.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Traveller: Several really. But an interesting example is the Oberlindes family which brought itself from being a group of Free Traders to near MegaCorp status. They still have something of a style to the way they do business.
  • A Rogue Trader dynasty is essentially a family owned MegaCorp. The Warrant of Trade is generally passed from parent to child and members of the Rogue Trader's extended family are frequently employed by the dynasty.
    • This also often applies to space ship crews. Since the ships have huge crews and are effectively Generation Ships it's not uncommon for the crew of a particular section of the ship to all be members of the same extended family passing the job down through the generations.
  • Cyberpunk: The Arasaka corporation is a family-run business, with the business being run by the old and infirm but still iron-willed patriarch Saburo Arasaka, and his eldest son Kei and daughter Hanako and their children either working in or being groomed for senior executive positions. The Black Sheep of the family, middle son Yorinobu, chose to flee the family in secret (in the middle of his 18th birthday party, no less), and start a low-level guerilla war against his ruthless father.

    Theatre 
  • In the Mrs. Hawking play series, the Hawking family's venture capital firm, started by Ambrose Hawking and carried on by his sons Justin and Nathaniel.
    • Mrs. Hawking herself remains indepedently wealthy due to inheriting her husband's stock in the company after his death.
  • In All My Sons, Joe Keller put forty years of his life into building up a business which he badly wants his son Chris to inherit.

    Video Games 
  • Big Mutha Truckers: The title of the game shares the name of the company owned by the retiring Ma Jackson. She challenges her children to earn the most money in 60 days to determine who will succeed her.
  • In Chicory: A Colorful Tale, talking to your father at home has him comment on how he thought your artistic sister would be a brush wielder, while you were more likely to end up inheriting ownership of his "holey" shop. With that said, he's still happy that you're doing what you want.
  • Cyberpunk 2077: Just like in the tabletop game it is based on, the Arasaka corporation is owned and led by the Arasaka family, with patriarch and founder Saburo Arasaka as the corporation's undisputed leader, and his son Yorinobu and daughter Hanako acting as senior executives.
  • Fantasy Life has a handful of colleagues for each of the 12 jobs. Within these groups, it's not rare to find at least two people that are siblings, married, parent and child or grandparent and grandchild.
  • In Fire Emblem: Awakening, Stahl is said to come from a family that owns a very traditional apothecary business in Ylisse. Since Stahl's brother is expected to inherit it he decided to join the knighthood instead, but still uses his knowledge of plants and tonics once in a while.
  • Jak and Daxter:
    • Jak X: Combat Racing had Rayn swept up into her late father's plot to take over a rival's gang.
    • Daxter has Kridder Ridder, a bug-exterminating firm run by Osmo with help from his son Ximon, and founded by the former’s grandfather, the late Ozmar Itchy Drawers III.
  • In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Harth's bowyer occupation is one that runs in his family. It's also the reason he's not as good of a warrior as Teba, as he had to give up archery when it came time to inherit the business.
  • In Love & Pies, Windmill Café has been run by Amelia's family for at least 150 years. Its ownership has been passed down through generations, with Amelia inheriting it from her mother in the present.
  • In Persona 4, several of the characters' families run traditional businesses:
    • Yukiko is the daughter of the manager of the Amagi Inn, and is set to inherit the inn someday; she considers leaving to forge her own path in life, but realizes she loves the inn and decides to stay.
    • Rise's grandmother runs Marukyu Tofu.
    • Kanji's mother is in charge of Tatsumi Textiles, and the family business is the source of his love of sewing (which he is ashamed of due to it not being a traditionally masculine pursuit).
    • Naoki and his older sister Saki are the children of the proprietor of Konishi Liquors, which has struggled since Junes' arrival, and the family is hit hard when Saki is murdered near the start of the game.
  • Potion Permit:
    • Garret and his family run the farm at the north of Moonbury.
    • Opalheart and her daughter Runeheart run Hearts and Sparks, with the former training the latter to be her successor.
    • Olive is the seventh generation of running Willow Waters Bathhouse, but she's tired of managing it and wishes to start over at the capital.
  • Princess Maker 5: Emily's family runs a clothing store.
  • Yandere Simulator: MegaCorp Saikou Corp. It's named for the family, and Saisho, the Evil Patriarch founder who drove off his eldest daughter by putting her through Training from Hell in order to inherit his company, but his son got it instead.

    Visual Novels 
  • The diner in Daughter for Dessert, run by the protagonist and his daughter, Amanda.
  • Double Homework:
    • The online casino run by Dennis’s dad has shades of this, since Dennis coded all the sites and the programs to run them.
    • Possibly Lauren’s wedding planning business in her epilogue. The protagonist, who proposes to Lauren after the wedding, assists her with the heavy lifting.
    • The Tits in the final concert in Morgan’s epilogue. Uncle Tommy chooses his niece and her boyfriend to play with him in the concert.
  • Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! has several examples, particularly in class 2-S. For instance, the Kuki Financial Conglomerate, exactly as described on the tin. This also gives Ageha, Hideo, and Monshiro rather... distinct personalities.
  • Ace Attorney has the Von Karma family. Manfred and his daugher Franziska are both known as ruthless prosecutors, and this family business also spreads to adoptee Edgeworth.
    • Also, played with during 1-4 with the owner of the boat station who is out of his mind (faking it actually) and believes his station house to be a pasta shop to pass onto his children (whom he believes Phoenix and Maya to be).
    • The Feys, too. All the women of the family are spirit mediums, which actually IS a successful business, at least that much before the DL-6 incident.
    • In the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice DLC Case 'Turnabout Time Traveller', the Sprocket family own and run an aviation company which design, manufacture and operate airships. They are apparently influential enough to apply pressure to entire government agencies such as the Prosecutor's Office.
  • The Kirigiri family in Danganronpa, an ancient clan of detectives.
  • In Spirit Hunter: NG, The Black Rabbit bar was left to Natsumi by her late husband, and is popular with its limited customer base for its cozy, easygoing atmosphere.

     Web Comics 
  • In I Love Yoo, Kousuke and Nol's family runs a large business. The Park family also runs a small bakery.

    Web Original 
  • In the Whateley Universe, Goodkind International is really a family business, with Goodkinds working up through the ranks to take over the key positions as older Goodkinds retire or move to the board.
  • Grandmaster of Theft's Cain International. The protagonist herself is being groomed as inheritor.
  • In The Autobiography of Jane Eyre (modernized vlog series based on Jane Eyre), Thornfield Exports has been owned by the Rochester family for decades and they provide high-quality aluminium products for homes. The male lead Mr Rochester "inherited" the position of its CEO, and he's probably not too keen. He's thirty-ish and his older relatives are not at sight, and he has only an eight-year-old daughter. His live-in personal assistant Grace Poole organizes things and stuff in the company as well as in Mr Rochester's household.
  • Neurotically Yours: This is the reason Foamy the Squirrel HATES StarSchmucks so much. The company has pretty much run smaller, family run coffee places out of business due to their marketing. However, he wouldn't be so bitter if the price wasn't as extravagant and the coffee not tasting like crap.

    Western Animation 
  • In Jimmy Two-Shoes, the Heinous family runs Misery Inc, which exists entirely to Kick the Dog.
  • Filmation's Ghostbusters: Spenser and Kong, Sr. hand off the business to their respective sons, Eddie and Jake, though they still maintain an active presence.
  • Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023): Lunella’s family runs the local rollerskating rink Roll With It, and have for several decades.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
    • Sweet Apple Acres, an apple farm (a giant apple farm) owned by the local branch of the Apple clan.
    • In the episode "Spice up your Life", there's the Tasty Treat, a small restaurant owned and run by a father and daughter which has recently fallen on financial hard times.
  • In South Park, Tweek's parents own the Tweek Bros. Coffeehouse. Their coffee actually tastes terrible, but they keep customers coming back by putting meth in it.
  • The titular Bob's Burgers is run by Bob, his wife Linda, and their three children. While Bob's oldest two children show no interest in keeping it in the family, his youngest daughter Louise intends to take over after Bob retires.
    • Bob used to work in his father Big Bob's diner as a kid, but creative differences led to Bob splitting off to start his own restaurant.
  • Work It Out Wombats!: Mr. E inherited the Everything Emporium from his ancestors, whom all have their portraits along the wall of the store. It's implied that the family legacy puts a lot of pressure on Mr. E to be perfect, to the point where he fears that an unhappy customer will be a stain on his reputation.
  • The Owl House: It's mentioned in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" that the Clawthorne family have a long history as palisman carvers, though with Dell's retirement and both of his daughters taking up different careers, the tradition has effectively been broken. By the time of the epilogue, Dell has taken up Hunter (a clone of a distant Clawthorne ancestor who is implied to have been the one to start the family business) as an apprentice, allowing the tradition to continue to the next generation.

    Real Life 
  • WWE. Vince McMahon is the chairman and CEO, their daughter Stephanie is the Chief Brand Officer, and her husband Triple H is Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative. And it's fully expected that Triple H will inherit the reins once Vince retires.
    • Just to clarify: That's in real life. Their kayfabe roles are a little different.
    • Vince and Linda's son Shane was president of new media and global media (i.e. their internet presence and international business).
    • Vince's wife Linda, was CEO until she left to serve on the Connecticut State Board of Education (she later ran for U.S. Senate twice and is now the Administrator of the Small Business Administration).
      • And Vince picked up the company that would become the WWE from his father, Vince McMahon Senior.
      • Who picked it up from his father, Jess McMahon.
  • The English school Dulwich College used to have headmasters with the family name "Alleyn" (after its founder Edward Alleyn). The tradition hasn't been continued for a long time though.
  • M&M/Mars, a candy company famous for M&M's, Mars bars, Skittles and Snickers, among other products, is still private, still family-owned, and based in the one place you'd probably least expect: McLean, VA, just outside Washington, D.C.. (Note: This is where the headquarters of their holding company are; the factory and headquarters of the candy division are in the equally unlikely location of Hackettstown, New Jersey, in the rural/exurban foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.)
    • Candy companies used to be this almost exclusively; now there are only a tiny handful left. Tootsie Roll is another family-owned one.
  • Another real-life example: S.C. Johnson & Son, the company that makes Windex, Glade and Ziploc.
    • Often confused for the above company, Johnson & Johnson is no longer a family business.
  • And another: Playboy magazine. Hugh Hefner founded it; his son is Chief Creative Officer.
  • The Adamses, the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, and the Bushes.
  • Most Kingdoms and Empires in history, often forming a Deadly Decadent Court.
  • In-N-Out, serving fast food burgers around the western United States, and owned by the Snyder family. Founder set precedent for Bible verses to be printed on the bottom of bags, cups, and cartons. Currently owned by Lynsi Snyder, grandchild of company founders Harry and Esther Snyder.
  • Members of the Ford family still own the majority of the Ford Motor Company.
  • McDonald's was once actually run by a real family, the McDonald brothers. They invented the very concept of "fast food" via automatic mechanical cookers and ran the franchise for about 20 years until they partnered up with Ray Kroc, who rewrote all of the signed agreements and took the company over in a hostile takeover, literally leaving the brothers sitting in the desert cooking burgers for random yokels and eternally trying to recapture their Glory Days.
  • The Whedon family of television screenwriters.
  • Culver's: A fast growing Wisconsin-based fast casual food chain operating all over the interior US is owned and run by the Culver family.
  • Universal Pictures was this when it was established in 1912 by Carl Laemmle. He named his namesake son president of the studio as a 21st birthday present and he helped the studio transition to sound and color. The Laemmles sold the studio in 1936.
  • Stellan Skarsgård is a very famous Swedish actor, appearing in films such as Good Will Hunting, The Avengers, Mamma Mia! and Pirates of the Caribbean. He has eight children, six of whom (His oldest son Alexander being most famous in the U.S.) have had reasonably successful acting or modeling careers. The two who haven't? Well, his youngest son, Ossian, is three and his son Sam became a doctor, following in his mother's footsteps.
  • The Keslensky webcomics are this with a twist — Rachel began Last Res0rt a few years before her father J.P. started Bug Pudding, rather than the other way around.
  • As explained in Live-Action TV above, the Robertsons and "Duck Commander" from Duck Dynasty.
  • Though he's now remembered for something different, a great deal of Marcus Brutus's reputation among the Senate came from the fact that his ancestor, Lucius, had founded The Roman Republic, and that his family had been in politics for hundreds of years.
  • The Goldwyn family has a long history in the film industry. Samuel Goldwyn (aka Szmuel Gelbfish) is the co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His first wife's brother-in-law Jesse L. Lasky was the co-founder of Paramount along with Adolph Zukor, and his second wife Frances Howard was an actress. His son, Samuel Goldwyn Jr., was the founder of The Samuel Goldwyn Company. Goldwyn Jr.'s first wife, Jennifer Howard, was the daughter of author and screenwriter Sidney Howard. His sons—Tony, John, and Peter—are respectively a famous actor in his own right, a former Paramount executive, and the Samuel Goldwyn Company's current owner.
  • Many small, medium and sometimes large Italian companies fall into this category, including Barilla (pasta), Ferrero (chocolate), Beretta (firearms), Marcegaglia (steel), Pinifarina (car design) and many fashion brands like Armani and Ermenegildo Zegna. This has actually been blamed for the relative stagnation of the Italian economy, as family firms have reduced incentives to modernize, expand, and benefit from economies of scale. (This perseverance of family firms has itself been blamed on certain features of the Italian economy and regulatory system, but let’s not get into that.)
  • Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck is a Real Life version of Frank Reagan. Both of his kids and his son-in-law are LAPD officers, his wife Cindy was a narcotics K9 handler, and his sister Megan was a detective.
  • Several NFL franchises have been owned by the same family for generations. These include the Chicago Bears' Halas/McCaskey family, the Pittsburgh Steelers' Rooney family, the New York Giants' Mara family,note  and the Arizona/Phoenix/St. Louis/Chicago Cardinals' Bidwill family. They also include the Detroit Lions' Ford family, who as noted elsewhere on this page also remain the majority shareholders of the Ford Motor Company. This is something of an Enforced Trope in the NFL: unlike other sports leagues (in the U.S. and elsewhere), the NFL rules require that teams be owned by a single individual or small group of individuals (no more than 32, with at least one of them holding at least a 30% stake), with the exception of the Green Bay Packers (which is owned by a local nonprofit corporation under a Grandfather Clause).
  • The Jim Henson Company is still run by sons and daughters of Jim.
  • Tsuburaya Productions, the creators of the Ultra Series. Eiji Tsuburaya's sons and grandsons still continue to head the company.
  • Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan is a Japanese hot spring hotel and the world's second-oldest company. Since its foundation in the year 703, it has been run by 52 generations of the same family.
  • Sega Sammy Holdings, the current owners of Sega, has Hajime Satomi as its chairman and chief operating officer. His son, Haruki, is the chief executive officer and president of Sega Sammy Holdings, as well as Sega's chairman and chief operating officer.
  • Nintendo, now known for making video games, was originally founded as a hanafuda company by Fusajiro Yamauchi in 1889. When he retired in 1929, his son-in-law, Sekiryo Kaneda (who took the Yamauchi surname after marrying Fusajiro's daughter, Tei), took his place. After suffering a stroke twenty years later, Sekiryo named his grandson Hiroshi Yamauchi as his successor. Interestingly enough, Hiroshi's daughter, Yoko, would eventually marry Nintendo of America's founder and first president, Minoru Arakawa. Nintendo ended its run as a family business when Satoru Iwata succeeded Hiroshi in 2002.
  • Germany's Mack family have owned the major amusement ride and rollercoaster manufacturer Mack Rides for its entire history, which can be traced all the way back to 1780 when it was founded as a coach builder. The family also own Europa-Park, Europe's second-biggest theme park behind Disneyland Paris.

 
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The family that cons together

While you're seeing here is a (supposed) FBI arrest, what you'll find out later it's a scam managed by the Nicolettis. It includes Charlie, big sister Birdie and parents Leo and Fran. It also includes Charlie's fiance Tina.

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