PREFACE The odds are stacked high against any new business. They are stacked even higher against small, family-owned businesses that start up without extensive trade or management experience. Every year nearly one million new businesses are launched in the U.S. and 30% of those will be closed by the end of the first year. Within five years, more than 60% of new businesses fail. Within ten years, 90% are gone. Of the surviving businesses, only a handful will grow to become national success stories while remaining privately owned. Succession to the next generation is an entirely separate problem. While over 80% of America’s corporations are family owned or controlled, only 30% of all family owned businesses survive to the second generation. At best, 10% will succeed to the third generation while remaining as a private enterprise. Combined together, the odds are very slim that new family businesses will survive to the third generation, while remaining privately owned. Our family business has also overcome the social and business stigmas that used to be associated with health food companies. Most people simply aren’t ready to change their lifestyles in order to feel better. Because of many factors, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and, to a lesser degree, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) have made selling natural foods very difficult for over half a century. By standing the test of time, NOW Foods and the Richard family have shown that natural food products are legitimate and helpful. Betty, Elwood, Sharon, David, Dan NOW Foods has beaten the odds and is a living testament to the American success story. My grandfather, Paul Richard, started our family heritage in the natural foods field in 1949, and my father, Elwood Richard, expanded the business substantially, adding four related businesses to the fold. Today, all five businesses are alive and well with NOW Foods as the lead company. NOW has an interesting story to tell that should inform, surprise, enlighten and, hopefully, entertain readers with many interests. We have beaten the odds and they are now in our favor. Dan Richard May, 2002, Revised 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 Preface 7
