FAMILY BUSINESS NETWORKING ITALIAN APERITIF: The February edition of the family business seminar was designed for founders and top executives of Family-Owned Businesses in Nigeria. It was a special networking forum for selected family business owners and their successors with the theme “Discovering the Italian Family Business Culture as a Sustainable Business Model” We had in attendance, distinguished men and women from Nigeria and Italy such as: 1. Romano Pisciotti - Director, IVECO Nigeria Motor Parts Industry/ITALMOTOR 2. Mrs. Floriana de Stefani - Family Businesss Owner/Founder, La Pizza Italian Restaurant 3. Mrs. Ndifreke Okwuegbunam - Head of programs, Aspire Coronation Trust Foundation 4. Representatives from the Italian Embassy, Lagos-Nigeria Other Italian Businessmen. One of the main heated debates at the seminar was how the owner/founder of the business needs to engage their children in the business very early as the kids grow. This will help the children to start developing interests and understanding the values for which the business was created. . Various family business owners from both first and second generations were present and were given opportunity to narrate their experiences about running their businesses in a family model. . The most challenging issue was succession planning. Investigation showed, according to Romano Piscioti, one of Rome Business School's professors, that among over 90% of businesses run in a family model in Nigeria, only 20% are conscious of succession planning. Much needs to be done to increase the awareness of succession planning and give strategies for succession planning to work. Family business is more interested in family values than money as seen that cultural revaluation exists among family business while managerial capitalism" exists among public owned companies. In promoting and enhancing family business in Nigeria, Rome Business School Nigeria has designed the family business program to help achieve successful transmission of leadership to the next generations in family businesses.