A family business, as the name suggests, is a business that is actively owned by two or more members of the same family. At least one representative of the family or relatives is involved in the management or administration of the company. It has a significant role in the economy, because as the oldest surviving economic system, it has a significant contribution to the gross national product, total employment and total exports. Managing a family business is all about finding a balance between micromanaging and abdicating responsibility, and it becomes more challenging as the family and business grow. The fact that 74.3% of employees are employed in this sector speaks of the importance of the development of small and medium enterprises. The development of family entrepreneurship in Croatia and in the world faced obstacles due to the pandemic, but despite this, family entrepreneurship is growing slowly. Directing the state policy towards a continuous increase in exports, a high level of innovation, educated and flexible management, an innovative production process and a favorable business environment are some of the main goals of the development of entrepreneurship in Croatia. In this paper, in addition to the definition of a family business, we will study its development, both in Europe, through the example of Finland, and in Croatia, through the example of the family business "Gavrilović."