How to Set Up a Family Office: A Step-by-Step Guide for First Time Founders
The decision to set up a family office marks a pivotal moment in the life of any entrepreneur, wealthy individual, or ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) family. It signals not only the preservation of wealth but also the evolution of legacy, governance, and impact for generations to come.
Whether you’ve just exited a business, come into significant generational wealth, or act as an advisor to a newly wealthy individual or family, this guide is for you. We’ll guide you through the essentials of starting a family office, from initial planning to assembling the right team, and highlight how thoughtful recruitment at the earliest stages can shape the success of your family office for years to come.
What is a Family Office?
A family office is a private advisory firm that serves a single ultra-high-net-worth-family (single-family office) or multiple families (multi-family office). The aim is to centralise management of family wealth, estate planning, philanthropy, investments, governance, and lifestyle services under one roof.
Unlike working with a private bank or wealth manager, setting up a family office gives you direct control, discretion, and alignment with your family’s unique values and ambitions.
Why set up a Family Office?
Founders and families typically explore how to set up a family office when:
- They’ve undergone a major liquidity event (e.g., a business sale or IPO)
- Wealth is expected to span multiple generations
- The complexity of their financial, legal, and lifestyle needs has outgrown traditional advisory services
- They wish to establish a legacy, philanthropic vehicle, or succession strategy
- Privacy, discretion, and control are paramount
Step-by-step: How to set up a Family Office
Define your objectives and vision
Before structuring any operations, ask: Why do we want a family office?
Clarify what success looks like – both financially and personally. Is it about intergenerational wealth preservation? Tax efficiency? Social impact? Lifestyle support?
Objectives may include:
- Managing diversified investments
- Succession planning and education for next-gen family members
- Running private foundations or philanthropic projects
- Managing real estate, yachts, aircraft, or art collections
- Facilitating family governance and conflict resolution
This vision will shape your family office’s size, scope, and structure.
Choose the right structure
When starting a family office, there is no one size fits all model. Most families choose between:
Single Family Office (SFO)
- Tailored exclusively to one family
- Offers maximum privacy and control
- Higher set-up and running costs (typically viable for assets >£100m)
Multi Family Office (MFO)
- Shared infrastructure and services across multiple families
- More cost effective
- Less bespoke, but access to institutional quality services
You’ll also need to determine:
- Legal structure (trust, LLP, company, foundation)
- Jurisdiction (UK, Channel Islands, Switzerland, Dubai, Singapore, etc.)
- Regulatory requirements (particularly around investment advisory)
Build the right team for your family office
Recruitment is often overlooked in the early stages, but it’s one of the most critical decisions you’ll make.
Hire a Chief of Staff first
One of the earliest and smartest hires is often a Chief of Staff. Acting as a trusted right hand to the principal or family board, the Chief of Staff can:
- Translate your vision into operational reality
- Coordinate between legal, financial, lifestyle, and personal teams
- Oversee recruitment, HR, and infrastructure as the office grows
- Ensure cohesion between family values and executive delivery
Working with specialist chief of staff recruitment experts ensures you hire someone not just with the right experience, but the right personality and discretion for this pivotal role.
At Cora, as specialists in family office recruitment, we often support families setting up a family office from scratch by placing a Chief of Staff who can scale the operation organically, acting as a cultural anchor from day one.
Engage specialist Family Office recruiters
When it comes to building your wider team, investment professionals, tax experts, personal assistants, private chefs, property managers, or education consultants, generalist hiring platforms won’t cut it.
Partnering with experienced family office recruiters means:
- Access to talent already vetted for discretion and UHNW experience
- Market intelligence on salaries, structures, and emerging trends
- A streamlined, confidential process
With the right people in place, your family office won’t just operate smoothly, it will reflect your values, culture, and long term goals.
Set up governance and decision making protocols
Without structure, even the wealthiest families can face hurdles. Clear governance is the backbone of a successful family office.
It is worth considering:
- Who makes decisions? A family council, board, or trustees?
- What are the roles and responsibilities of each family member?
- How will succession be handled?
- What protocols exist for hiring, investing, or distributing funds?
Document everything – from charters and investment policies to codes of conduct and succession plans. Your Chief of Staff or General Counsel can help draft these policies and keep them current.
Select technology and infrastructure
Modern family offices rely on robust systems to manage complexity and maintain oversight.
You’ll need:
- Portfolio management and reporting tools
- Document and contract management
- Secure communication platforms
- Payroll, HR, and compliance systems
Many new founders start with outsourced solutions, later bringing services in-house as the family office matures.
Start small – and scale intentionally
Not all family offices launch fully formed. Many evolve over time.
It’s often wise to:
- Start with core services (finance, legal, lifestyle)
- Build out the team and structure gradually
- Keep overheads flexible with outsourced or fractional support
Working with a recruitment partner, such as Cora, who are experienced in family office recruitment helps you scale intentionally, avoiding over-hiring or culture mismatch.
Prioritise privacy, risk, and continuity
Finally, ensure that your family office is built to withstand both internal and external threats. That means:
- Cybersecurity and data protection
- Legal risk mitigation
- Succession and continuity planning
- Crisis response frameworks
Remember, family offices are high-value targets for fraud, litigation, and reputational risk. A well-structured office provides the insulation needed to protect your family’s name, privacy, and assets.
Common mistakes to avoid when starting a Family Office
- Delaying recruitment: Waiting too long to hire key personnel, especially a Chief of Staff – can create bottlenecks and disorganisation
- Over-engineering from day one: Start with the essentials and allow your office to grow with your needs
- Poor cultural fit: Technical skill isn’t enough – your team must reflect the family’s values, discretion, and working style
- Lack of clear boundaries: Define roles for family vs. professionals, and personal vs. business interests
- Neglecting next-gen planning: Involve younger family members early to ensure a smooth generational transition
How Cora can help
At Cora, we specialise in family office recruitment, working with newly formed family offices as well as long-established private principals. Whether you need to hire a Chief of Staff, build an operational team, or find discreet and experienced lifestyle professionals, we understand what it takes to build a family office from the ground up.
We don’t just fill jobs – we shape teams that last, align with your values, and future-proof your family office. We’ve supported first-time founders across Europe, the UK, the US, and the Middle East – ensuring that their people strategy is as robust as their investment one.
Final thoughts
Setting up a family office is both a practical and deeply personal endeavour. It’s not just about wealth, it’s about legacy, control, and alignment with your long-term vision.
By thinking strategically from the start, particularly around team structure and governance, you can avoid common pitfalls and set your family office on the right path.
If you’re in the early stages of stating a family office and wondering how to build your team, we’d be delighted to help. Visit our Family Office Recruitment Services page or get in touch with one of our senior team to start the conversation.
FAQs for Setting Up a Family Office
Starting a family office involves defining your financial goals, determining the type of family office (single family or multi family), hiring key advisors, creating an investment strategy, and establishing legal and compliance structures.
A family office requires a diverse team of experts, including financial advisors, investment managers, legal counsel, tax advisors, estate planners, lifestyle managers and philanthropic advisors.
Depending on complexity and structure, it can take several months to a year to fully establish a family office, from strategic planning to hiring staff and setting up legal and financial systems.