In 1995, Mr Hebbard set up Grant Thornton's Thai family practice, which initially operated out of a local audit office before going independent after two years.

With families at the helm of 85 per cent of companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, there has been a strong move towards professional management, particularly since the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98.

From three staff then, the Bangkok practice has ballooned to more than 100. Building on that success, Mr Hebbard has relocated to Hong Kong to develop the business, but still spends half of every working month travelling around the region.

'In Thailand we found that people needed help everywhere. It was becoming tougher for small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] to raise capital particularly after the crisis. Some were realising the family advisers they had up to 1997 should not have advised them to take the route they did,' he said.

Grant Thornton is now taking a wider view of its family oriented work, with Hong Kong and China the support base for regional development.

'The promotion and targeting of family businesses fits in with the identity of the firm internationally. We look for owner-managed entrepreneurial growth companies, these are not the type of companies the Big Four [accounting firms] target - they go for Fortune 500-type companies.'

Most often, Mr Hebbard works only with a personal assistant when consulting due to the confidential nature of the business.

'The fewer people involved the better. For this part of the practice, we use senior people in the firm with a lot of experience. With the issues we deal with, one can only advise once you have had a broad range of advisory experience.'

Being able to make his way around a golf course is one activity that helps Mr Hebbard with his work - the game eases the tension of face-to-face meetings with family members of different generations. He also has first-hand experience as an entrepreneur - he moved to Bangkok as a financial controller for an Australian gold mining company before setting up a publishing business. The company, whose flagship titles were a business publication and medical journal, was sold at a good price to the Manager Group before the Asian meltdown began.

'Selling at the time was luck more than anything. But the business was a lot of fun.'

He said issues that could derail family run firms ranged from the role that siblings played in an organisational structure to the position a patriarch would hold post-retirement. Creating a strategic plan, a will or a shareholder's agreement could help separate family from business, providing a guideline for all parties to adhere to and protecting the company for the long term.

'We are able to save them money there is no doubt, but we can also save their businesses. There are a lot of people that don't express themselves within the family because it is just not done. We take the ignorant approach. I don't have any sides to take and I can say what I like, because as a foreigner I am able to address issues and speak about them.'

Mr Hebbard remains positive about the role SMEs hold in Hong Kong's economy, whether it be through building on their connections in China or looking further afield. He believes the economy is over the worst and businesses should be looking around for new opportunities in the global market to position themselves for a recovery. 'Family businesses are inherently in survival mode all the time.

'If you look at business start-up statistics, 90 per cent of new businesses fail.

'Entrepreneurs have to think on their feet,' Mr Hebbard said.

'Surviving at the moment means still looking at opportunities. If you can compete and survive at this time then in the longer term you still have good prospects.'

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