Successful family-owned firms develop and implement typically strategies that promote long-term sustainability over short-term performance. They focus on long-term customer relationships and sustainable relationships with employees, suppliers and the community at large.
PEOPLE AND CULTURE ARE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS OF ANY FAMILY BUSINESS
There is a truism in business: “A good strategy is of no value unless it is acted upon”. The root causes of most business problems are therefore the so called ‘soft factors’, and above all company culture and how management and staff actually behave.
In a family business, the family itself plays a vital role. Family businesses are typically characterized as unique business organizations that involve the overlap of two distinct systems: The business, structured primarily on rational economic principles and the family, bonded by emotional ties. Unsurprisingly then, many issues arise from this fundamental design. Both the family and the business should be viewed as equally important and overlapping systems, where the success in one system quite often leads to success in the other. However, this symbiotic relationship also holds true for disagreements and problems, where problems in one system can lead to problems in the other. A strong and united family serves as a tremendous asset for any company, yet a divided and weak family is a huge threat even for an operationally and strategically sound business.
A key component of my consultancy work is therefore to integrate the appropriate behavioural and organizational frameworks with an analytical, fact-based approach.
My clients are primarily those owners and senior executives of mid-sized family businesses, who are not entirely happy with their company’s present performance and want to improve its performance trajectory. Based on my extensive experience in working with family companies, I have developed an in-depth understanding of the dynamics and idiosyncrasies underpinning the successes of family businesses. This knowledge allows me to quickly establish effective relationships, even in complex family situations. Given my 30 years of business management experience, underpinned by state-of-the-art management knowhow, I am able to quickly diagnose performance inhibitors and enablers in a business, and develop measures to sustainably improve performance in alignment with the values of the owners.
A GOOD STRATEGY IS NOT EVERYTHING, BUT IT IS ESSENTIAL!
A sound strategy is the cornerstone of any business. My experience in working with over 150 businesses across various industries has taught me that if a company’s strategy and its corresponding business model are not viable – regardless of how well the operations are managed and how hard the managers and employees work – a business will ultimately fail.
Most family companies are domestic, sometimes global, niche players. The best ones pursue a purpose-driven mission and strive to be leaders in their field. Profit is not the main objective, but the by-product of serving customers better than anyone else.