Top Things I Learned Growing Up in a Family Business.
And some ideas on how to deal with the same in your own family business.
So first a disclaimer — our family is by no means the Waltons from Wallmart, or even close to making it on any Forbes list for that matter. But to me that doesn’t matter; I believe the essential concepts and lessons to be learned from any size family business remain the same. A large part of a family business is the support & guidance you receive from those close to you within a business context.
After finishing my education in Communication, Business and Brand Strategy, I paid my dues in the family real estate and luxury travel business. Here I learned that as rewarding as a family business can be, there are plenty of challenges.
The closer you are to the founding generation of your family business, the more likely you are to be met with an awe-inspiring entrepreneur at the helm. This means someone who, against all odds, goes forth into the world to make their vision a reality. Sometimes this could be a clear documented vision & mission, but more often than not, these individuals don’t come from a business background or education and use gut instincts to help them navigate this plane.
For me, this person was my mother. She is dynamic, vivacious and passionate, but also a formidable entrepreneur. Building up a company for 20 years is no small feat. For every evening we spent recollecting the day’s happenings, strategizing, planning and dreaming, we also had our of disagreements — things that I wanted to change and she didn’t, things she learned the hard way that I refused to listen to.
My father, on the other hand, is the polar opposite: calm, wise, and always asking the right questions so you can find the answers yourself. This attitude, combined with my mother’s warrior spirit, gave me the balanced approach to business I have today. The courage to set forth into uncharted waters while being aware of some of the more subtle points that might show themselves when you ask the right questions.
Now, ten years later I can look back at this time and realize there are plenty of things I learned about family business.
Here are a few that stand out:
1. Communication is emotive.
Kiss rationality goodbye. If you’re expecting cool grey, Scandinavian boardroom calm, you’re in for a bumpy ride. The family connection is simply not the same as communicating with a group of colleagues who carry the normal workplace sensitivities. — And you don’t have to face your colleagues over Sunday family lunch.
2. Decision-making is pretty much based on gut-feeling.
With so many family business founders having worked their way into their positions for which they don’t hold a business education, it is likely that they’ve never explored things like The Incremental Model for decision making. — If you are a younger family member who is fortunate enough to hold a business degree, it’s important to recognise the skill in using gut-feeling (that’s how the business succeeded, after all!), and try to understand which decisions are made this way and why. This will help to systemize decision-making going forward.
3. Family businesses function like tribes.
A family isn’t unlike a traditional tribe. There’s a heritage & family tree, a matriarch/patriarch (who is also often the fearless leader) and sometimes a black sheep. There are also rituals (even if it’s only Sunday lunch), symbols & language to show who belongs and a (usually unwritten) code of conduct. — This isn’t all that different from business strategies, especially if you’ve read The Art of War. Use this analogy to make strategies easier to understand and adapt.
4. We’re bad at defining our unique assets.
You don’t know what you’ve got and the grass is always greener on the other side. More often than not, you’re already sitting on everything you need to make the necessary changes and innovate in order to be future-ready. — Define these unique assets by making use of exploratory workshops and develop them into a USP for your family.
Understanding and adopting the above can help you obtain a strong position using soft-power. Use it to help guide your decisions and effect the change your business needs.
Most people’s idea of a successful business doesn’t include an emotional confrontation, a trip to the grocery store, a weekend-long reunion and a dog walk, but family businesses are a different animal and how we consider the structure of these businesses needs to shift accordingly. As long as we recognise what makes each business unique and harness those assets, we are able to grow with roots planted firmly in the past and branches reaching out to the future.
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Who’s Francois?
Francois Botha is the founder and lead strategist at Simple, a a brand management and strategy consultancy that finds simple solutions to life’s complex problems. He knows that even as life becomes more digital, sometimes the simplest solutions may be analogue. Using his unique set of skills, François is changing the way family businesses innovate. He is from Cape Town, South Africa and is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Living by Gandhi, learning by Google.
More about Simple
Simple is a creative strategy consultancy based in Copenhagen and Cape Town. We have designed a simple set of tools for innovation within family businesses, including the Family Branding Model. Find out more at www.andsimple.co
