Articles
Do You Really Think Junior Can Run This Business?
"Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy." – Robert A. Heinlein "We can really respect a man only if he doesn’t always look out for himself." – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe One of the most challenging issues for family owned businesses has to do with the succession of a son or daughter as the leader of the company. The American dream of starting a business, building it into a thriving enterprise and passing the mantle of leadership down to the next generation is strongly ingrained in our culture. In fact, we almost assume that Junior will take over [...]
Whatever Happened to All the Businesses? Success is in the Succession.
"Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now." – Alan Lakein Have you noticed how frequently businesses come and go? You buy a product or service from a good local company for years. Then you hear that the company has gone out of business. Someone else starts up a company and takes over the business, but after a few years the cycle repeats itself. We see this phenomenon in all industries. It isn’t that there’s no business. Even in these difficult economic times, individuals and organizations need essential products and services. [...]
Why Company Culture Counts
"Culture is the set of beliefs, values, and norms, together with symbols like dramatized events and personalities, that represents the unique character of an organization, and provides the context for action in it and by it." – Gareth Morgan "Leadership defined by "To lead is not to influence others to do something they are not committed to, but rather to nurture a culture that motivates and even excites individuals to do what is required for the benefit of all." – Arthur F Carmazzi This is a test: Describe your company’s culture in one sentence. If you’re hemming and hawing right [...]
When Business Conflict Becomes Family Conflict
"Family life! The United Nations is child’s play compared to the tugs and splits and need to understand and forgive in any family." – Mary Sarton In a recent article I talked about how the strengths and weaknesses of individual family members affect the overall success of the business. The converse is also true: the changing fortunes of the business can also affect the family. There’s no question that building a successful business can bring family members closer together and strengthen family bonds. It is equally true that problems in the business can create discord in the family. I recently worked [...]
What’s Your Excuse?
"No one ever excused his way to success." – Dave Del Dotto It’s no secret that I’m a proponent of strategic planning. If you’ve read any of my articles over the years, you know that I believe every business – especially closely held businesses – should implement a strategic plan to align the organization around key objectives and create accountability for results. When I meet with prospective clients, one of the things I ask is whether or not they have a strategic plan in place. Most do not. I’ve heard just about every excuse there is for failure to implement a [...]
The Bright Sides of Family Businesses
"All good businesses are personal. The best businesses are very personal." – Mark Cuban Last month’s article on the darker sides of managing a family business generated a lot of response. Numerous owners of family businesses gave me feedback about the accuracy of my experiences. Given that 80-90% of businesses in the United States are family owned, I’m not surprised that many of you are interested in the challenges and opportunities these companies offer. So it seems only fair to focus this month on the many positives of managing and working for a family business. Here are just a few: Shared values: [...]