After 146 years in operation, the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus will deliver its final performance later this month on May 21.

Is this just another business failure or a testimony to the efforts and commitment of leadership and all those who worked within the business?

Failure Or Life Moving On?

Whenever I hear about a business closing down, my heart pangs for the people who have likely committed so much of their lives in trying to make it a success. And I feel for the grieving they are experiencing in the loss of their business. This is especially so in family businesses where business and family are so intertwined.

I suspect many would not understand such a feeling but, then again, I think those who have launched their own businesses would. It is easy to write off a business as just a profit-making venture but for many people, there is a lot more invested in their business than just an opportunity to make a profit.

Here is an extract from the statement by the current chairman of Ringling Bros., Kenneth Feld. You can you hear the sadness in his voice:

‘After much evaluation and deliberation, my family and I have made the difficult business decision that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey^® will hold its final performances in May of this year. Ringling Bros. ticket sales have been declining, but following the transition of the elephants off the road, we saw an even more dramatic drop. This, coupled with high operating costs, made the circus an unsustainable business for the company.

Nearly 50 years ago, my father founded our company with the acquisition of Ringling Bros. The circus and its people have continually been a source of inspiration and joy to my family and me, which is why this was such a tough business decision to make. The decision was even more difficult because of the amazing fans that have become part of our extended circus family over the years, and we are extremely grateful to the millions of families who have made Ringling Bros. part of their lives for generations. We know Ringling Bros. isn’t only our family business, but also your family tradition.’

Of course, the circus has had many opponents in recent years because of its use of animals in its performance and those groups would likely be celebrating the final closure of the circus business.

But how would you feel if your family had committed the last 50 years of its life, across three generations, to sustaining a business that was now taking it last breaths? How should you feel?

No Business Will Last Forever – Or Will It?

Is there a simple lesson in this story that no business can last forever?

And if it has been around for 146 years, and built such a strong brand, then it has lived a good life, certainly outlasted most other businesses and should be thankful.

Should businesses be seen as having a limited shelf life? The answer to this question, I believe, is the cornerstone to the success of any business and certainly for anyone who has aspirations of building a great business.

My answer is that businesses are built to meet the needs of a community and, if they do that well, they will earn a profit that will enable them to continue to grow and to meet the changing and hopefully expanding needs of that community. Businesses don’t exist to make a profit or pay a dividend, they exist to meet the needs of a community. If this thought challenges you, then read one of my earlier articles, ‘Is Business Doing The ‘Right Thing’ By Society Today?’.

Businesses will endure if leadership remains focused on purpose and customer need and they continually grow. Great businesses don’t remain stagnant, they continually evolve, step-out and reinvent themselves to remain relevant to the needs of the community they serve.

What fails is not the business, but rather the ability of leadership to see ‘where to next’ and to continually grow the business.

There is no such thing as a mature business or a mature market, only businesses that have aged and not been renewed by their leaders. (Read more on this in ‘The Myth Of The Mature Business’.)

Ringling Bros. has been around for 146 years and was acquired by the Feld Family some 50 years ago. The third generation of the family is now in the business and it has grown to include a range of shows well outside the traditional circus. Feld Entertainment is in the business of ‘creating lifelong memories – one act at a time’. Here are some of its brands:

Disney On Ice
Disney Live
Monster Jam
Monster Energy AMA Supercross
Amsoil Arenacross
Marvel Universe Live

It would seem Feld Entertainment has grown the business well beyond its founding acquisition of the circus, while remaining true to a unifying purpose and remaining relevant to its evolving customer base.

Failure or growth? I would have to say growth.

A Great Business Defined

There are few great businesses in our world and many of those end up having their life cut short. My recent article, ‘How A New CEO Can Destroy Business Value’, is probably a relevant example.

Often their lives are cut short by a new leadership team coming into play, wanting to make their mark on the business world and therefore rejecting much of what has gone before them. And as the expression goes, ‘out with the bath water goes the baby’. Or in this case, out with the old leadership team goes everything that had their signature on it.

For me, a great business is one that endures and does so by continuing to deliver greater customer value every day through a focus on purpose and its connection with customer need.

‘How will you know when you are on the trail to building a great business?

Look for the following signs in your business:

It is delivering greater customer value every day.
You are finding continuing opportunities for growth and innovation.
The owners and leaders are thriving in and being fulfilled by their business.
Employees are passionate about their work.
Customers just love it.
It is growing and compounding capital value.
It is throwing off free cash flow.
It is highly profitable.

And everyone looks to you for the standard and the next level of customer value. Note also that cash flow and profit are at the bottom of the list and are the outcome of everything else before them.’

The above is an extract from my book ‘Strategy Play – Crafting Undefeatable Business Strategies’.

A Message For Leaders

In a business world in which short-term profit is so strongly emphasised and individual freedom and wealth envied by many, there is a deeper message for business leaders about enduring businesses, businesses that can be considered great.

These businesses have a heart and are connected to their customers and the people who work within it. Look at the list of traits above and recognise what they say about the business and everyone involved in it:

They exist to serve the needs of their customers.
They’re always growing – ‘better every day’.
Leaders and employees find themselves ‘thriving, fulfilled and passionate’, not because of the money they earn but because of the work they do and the people they help.
Customers love the business.
And because of all the above, the business is enduring, profitable, and compounding its capital value.

Let’s reread the closing statement by Ringling Bros. chairman Kenneth Feld and pull out some of his words:

‘The circus and its people have continually been a source of inspiration and joy to my family and me.’
‘The decision was even more difficult because of the amazing fans that have become part of our extended circus family over the years.’
‘We are extremely grateful to the millions of families who have made Ringling Bros. part of their lives for generations.’
‘We know Ringling Bros. isn’t only our family business, but also your family tradition.’

Is this just another business failure or a testimony to the efforts and commitment of leadership and all those who worked within the business? What do you think?

There is an amazing strength that may be built in a business by leadership if they understand the competitive engine that drives the heart, the core strength, of a business.

Businesses can last forever.

Growth and the resulting capital value can compound over its lifetime.

And people can thrive in the work they do.

Active Knowledge Question:

What is the life expectancy of your business with you as its leader?

Act Now:

How undefeatable is your business strategy? Consider Strategy Play – Crafting Undefeatable Business Strategies.

Need to lift the leadership performance in your business? Learn how in C88 – Leadership Performance Guide and Journal.

Want to become part of the Entrepreneurs+ community? Sign up for my eNewsletter, and join the conversation by sending me a question via Ask Richard.

All the best in the success of your business,

Richard Shrapnel

The Circus Has Closed