<p>This paper examines the relationship between family involvement and CEO goal satisfaction in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using the concept of relational goods, originating in the political science and economics literature, and the social capital framework. Relational goods are the affective outcomes of social interaction that can help generate greater goal satisfaction. Based on a sample of 254 Czech private firms with two or more individual owners, our results confirm that owners’ collective orientation, representing the cognitive dimension of owners’ social capital, fully mediates the relationship between family involvement and CEO goal satisfaction. We also show that this mediating effect is equally valid for satisfaction with economic and non-economic goals. This research enhances the understanding of relational goods in organisational contexts and their connection to organisational social capital within the workplace. It also contributes to understanding how family involvement affects CEO goal satisfaction, addressing family business and SME literature inconsistencies. The study emphasises the importance of owners’ relationships in privately held firms, showing that these relationships substantially influence CEO satisfaction with economic and non-economic goals over and above the potential financial benefits of their investments.</p>