Japanese temple building company Kongo Gumi was established in 578AD and ceased trading in 2007, after being overwhelmed by debt, and an apparent downturn in the temple building industry.

Aside from the inauspicious final chapter however, what was the key to remaining in business for almost a millennium and a half?

Other than favourable economic and trading conditions, family ownership seems to have played a big hand in their longevity, as it has for a number of other long running enterprises.

Undoubtedly family business represents the most lasting type of business. The expert in family business, Professor Willian O’Hara, in one of his books mentioned about family business the following: “Before the multinational corporation, there was family business. Before the Industrial Revolution, there was family business. Before the enlightenment of Greece and the empire of Rome, there was family business.”