Care must be taken in choosing the ‘right business’ for you. No one can be successful in every business. There is a right and wrong choice for you. Understanding this is critical when it comes to family business succession.
Active Knowledge Question:
In considering the options for the continuity of your business, what type of leader will be required?
In family business succession, the unspoken assumption is that the business of the existing generation will transition to the next generation and they will continue it forward. Much the same as their elders did. This assumption remaining unchallenged and unquestioned can be a disaster in the making.
No one can successfully run every business. There has to be a connection between the leaders, the product/service and the customer need. For there to be true success there has to be a real passion and interest. This is often seeded through the family into the next generation, but not always.
The goal of any deliberate family business is to spark and build the entrepreneurial spirit in the next generation. That spark will hopefully lead to many more successful businesses in the family group. This growth is essential to support a growing family.
‘You must be hands-on – if you know your market, customers, competitors and yourself well – the opportunities for success will be obvious.’–Nathan Werdiger, businessman and philanthropist.
So if you are in the current generation, you must seek to seed the entrepreneurial spark in the next generation. And you must carefully determine what attributes are required in the next generation to lead the current businesses forward.
As for the next generation, you must seek to find what businesses you are drawn to and find your own way to build a great family business, leveraging off what has gone before you.
I’ll leave you with a quote from Max Beck, co-founder of Becton Corporation, to reflect on –‘ Experience is the key that will determine your focus.’
Next week’s leadership theme: ‘What is the role of leaders?’
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All the best in the success of your business,
Richard Shrapnel
