Keeping Business in the Family
Oxford Economics estimates;
“…there were 4.8 million family businesses in the UK in 2020, making up 85.9% of all private sector businesses. These businesses employed 13.9 million workers (51.5% of all private sector employment)”
Contributing a staggering £575 billion to the UK economy.
The thought of working with your family may send you running for the hills! Imagine working with your parents, your partner or your in-laws…
So, what do successful family businesses do that their lesser successful counterparts don’t?
Maintain healthy family dynamics
Experience working with family businesses over the years has taught me many families leave the important planning and setting the vision conversations to be had over the dinner table. This interrupts usual family dynamics, impacting on personal time and puts family members firmly in their usual roles – the person making and serving the dinner is occupied while the other person is left to the ideas, envisioning and planning. Default familial roles are back in play.
The more productive way is to schedule in weekly, monthly, quarterly meetings outside the home with a clear agenda. Thus, all family members are in a neutral space, usually with team members who can offer an objective perspective whilst following a consistent, structured and documented approach to moving the business forward. Everyone has a voice that is listened to in equity. For Succession fans think the opposite of what Logan Roy does!
The right people in the right roles
Its usual in family businesses for each family member to wear several hats. Perhaps one person fulfilling both sales and marketing or accounts and office management roles. In the ‘real world’ businesses wouldn’t get away with treating staff like this. It leads directly to overwhelm, over work and generally being under-paid = de-motivation and disillusionment. Staff turnover rate would be through the roof!
Whereas the successful family business understands the importance of knowing each family members skill set and distributing their key skills to the right areas of the business, whilst also maintaining a healthy balance of the exchange of knowledge across the organisation. No one person has the overall power in the room. Knowledge is Queen after all.
And successfully ran family businesses bring in outside resource when there is a particular skill missing, rather than giving it to someone who hasn’t got the skill or inclination!
Want to model what it takes to be a successful family business, look to Nike, BMW and closer to home, JCB (UK).
You don’t have to do it alone. Book in for my complimentary Kickstart Session – a one hour call to give you clarity, focus and guidance on your best next steps in business.
