canada

Oct 20, 2016

A novel way to solve the business succession crisis

Business people wearing informal dresses at work in their office

Originally published on October 10, 2016 as a Guest Column in The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/a-novel-way-to-solve-the-business-succession-crisis/article32233973/

One of the biggest risks in the economy is the fumbled hand-off of family businesses from one generation to the next. The expession “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations” sums this up nicely: the first generation builds a successful business, the second generation carries on in a diminished way, and the third generation inherits a mess and then starts over again.

Imagine the benefits to the Canadian economy if we could improve the success rate of family-business succession. Important companies and capital pools could be preserved, jobs maintained, and successful business practices and innovations shared for the future.

Better planning, documentation and family communication are among the usual remedies prescribed to relieve the succession crisis. But none address the real problem. As the patriarch of one business family once said to me, “The hardest part is figuring out whether your children are worthy or capable of following in your business footsteps.” Meanwhile, his children had different thoughts: “Your footsteps are no longer heading in the right direction. Thanks for the years of building your legacy, but please take a back seat.”

Internships and family councils won’t bridge this generation gap.

But now a Montreal foundation has come up with an innovative new approach to help business families come together. And non-family business owners find this a model for relieving their own growth and succession bottlenecks.

Olivier de Richoufftz is president of the Business Families Foundation, set up by Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien, the former CEO of Telemedia, and his wife and business partner, Nan-b. Twenty-six years ago, after wrestling with finding the best way to hand their business empire to their three children, Phillipe and Nan-b formed the foundation to help other business families manage this problem.

Mr. de Richoufftz defines the problem this way: The parents running a business tend to assume their children will take over some day, but they rarely communicate their intentions until too late. Families rarely discuss who wants to do what in the family business. But even if successors and leaders are identified, problems remain:

    • When and how will the senior generation give up power?
    • With equal numbers of shares, how will the next generation work together?
    • How will they resolve disputes?
    • How do family-owned businesses hire and retain talented senior employees if they know the kids are going to come along and supplant them, or at the very least shake things up?

The foundation’s new approach, which is now being workshopped by a dozen business families in Quebec, addresses all these problems. It does so by changing the basic assumptions behind family succession. Instead of seeing the founders’ children as the inheritors and future executives of mom and dad’s business, this approach encourages them to become entrepreneurs – but with internal advantages. “We are turning business families into intrapreneurial families,” says Mr. de Richoufftz.

He says children in a business family should see themselves as intrapreneurs. That is, they should look for new business opportunities that would fit their skills and interests – and then tap the resources of the family business to help them start stronger and grow faster than the average independent business. (This brings new meaning to the phrase “mother ship.”)

The foundation’s 100-day Intrapreneur Program, co-sponsored by Quebec’s Caisse de dépôt, works like a business incubator. Its first cohort, which began in September, includes 15 intrapreneurial projects, each team including one or two intrapreneurs as well as a business mentor, or parrain, to hone their plan and help figure out the best way to work with the family business. “Instead of startups, our aim is to create spinoffs,” says Mr. de Richoufftz. “The family business is not here to give you a cheque, but to support your dream. After 100 days you’ll know if you’re qualified for this.”

The program brings participants together every two weeks for seminars, lectures and candid conversations on business plans and family dynamics. The intrapreneurs conclude the program by making a formal business presentation to their parents or first-generation business leaders, identifying the opportunity they see, and the resources (e.g. capital, facilities, or HR expertise) they wish to tap into from the family business. Mom and dad can push back, ask questions, or negotiate the family’s involvement in the new venture.

Result: the second-generation leaders access business experience and resources without disrupting the family business. Brothers and sisters can pursue their personal ambitions without getting in each others’ way.

Mr. de Richoufftz notes that some of these new “interprises” may become “way larger” than the primary business: “In some cases, we see the intrapreneur taking over the core company.” But such cases would see the intrapreneur as an experienced business leader moving in with a proven business model – not just a young amateur with kooky ideas. Such successful entrepreneurs would be better able to buy their parents’ businesses than they might have been as employees, thereby solving the financial-succession problem that often leashes together siblings who would rather not work together. “Only strong families build strong businesses,” says Mr. de Richoufftz.

The Business Families Foundation plans to launch a second cohort in February, and hopes to include family companies from Toronto and Vancouver. (The cost is expected to be $8,000 per venture.) Mr. de Richoufftz wants to take the program national, and then global: “We are looking at partners to help us scale it up.”

I am excited about this new model for improving the success of family business. But I’m also keen on the implication for other companies. Every business has trouble retaining great employees, especially senior people with high potential and great ideas. Why shouldn’t those employers find new ways to work with these people? By offering resources or even capital, business owners could stay linked with these employees, and share in their future growth, and learn from their success.

You don’t have to be related to think like family.

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Category: Intrapreneurship, Spyder Works

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Oct 1, 2015

A good crisis can make for great opportunities

Originally published on September 4, 2015 as a Guest Column in The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-managing/a-good-crisis-can-make-for-great-opportunities/article26204036/

A few weeks ago, I went to Brazil to speak to a large group of manufacturers on the perpetually-topical subject of innovation in a time of crisis. The forum, held by FIERGS (Federation of Industries of Rio Grande do Sul), addressed the well-known struggles of the Brazilian economy. Unfortunately, those same issues are now being faced by the Canadian economy.

With the recent announcement that Canada is in a “technical” recession, these two resource-driven economies are slowing to a crawl. The good news? For me, there’s never been a better time for businesses to embrace innovation. And the best way to succeed in this perpetually challenging area is to look at innovation through the lens of crisis – or turnaround – management.

Innovation has always thrived in hard times. Desperation forces people to question the status quo. In good times, people may be less inclined to rock the boat, but when investors and customers are bolting for the doors, you have no choice. That’s probably why some of the world’s great companies were founded during recession – businesses such as General Electric, IBM, Disney, Microsoft and Adobe.

One of the world’s most successful innovators, Apple, wasn’t founded during a recession. But the same principle applies. When Steve Jobs returned to take the reins in 1997, Apple was facing crisis: too many products, too little focus, not enough revenue. What saved the day? Steve Jobs shaved Apple’s product lines by 70 per cent. Even the best companies can become bloated and undisciplined during the good years and forget the core competencies that made them great.

To stay true to your strategic core, you could do worse than look to the process of strategic turnarounds. Once a company has accepted that it has lost its way, a successful turnaround requires an extraordinary commitment to self-analysis, questioning, reflection and day-to-day change. The same turnaround tools can be adapted to meet the enormous market pressures all businesses face today.

The main reason many companies fail is lack of focus. They start off doing one thing well, and then get attracted to – or distracted by – other opportunities. Some may be successful, others not. But all of them distract the business owners and leaders from what they set out to do. And all too often these shiny new opportunities are well removed from the business’s original roots. That means there is little synergy with established operations, and way too much to learn – about new products, suppliers, distribution channels, markets and customers. It’s falling into this pit of guesswork and improvisation that leads most companies to call in the turnaround experts.

It takes courage to admit that your company needs to reverse course. But successful turnarounds require everyone involved to face the brutal truth.

The best turnarounds usually begin with a strategic review that asks: What are our strengths? What do we do best? Where are we losing money? What operations are most profitable? Where can we grow? Successful change also requires that you reconsider some of the specific actions that got you into trouble. Stop doing the same old things; one definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results.

Here are some of the key elements of a successful turnaround:

  • You need the right people on the journey. A winning turnaround starts with shedding employees who aren’t contributing sufficient value, or lack passion for their job. Once you get rid of the complainers and the complacent, your company has a better chance to bounce back.
  • You need a “change champion” to manage the turnaround – someone who owes nothing to the old, failed ways of doing things, and is prepared to listen carefully, consider many new ideas, and take direct action. His or her objective must be to stop the bleeding and get the company moving in the right direction. This is usually a hard job for the original owner/manager to do. Regardless of who takes charge, they require a formal process. As outlined in my book, The 90% Rule, that means knowing where your organization came from, knowing what it’s best at, and finding more ways to create value for more customers.
  • Focus is key. Trimming marginal operations is imperative – as Steve Jobs knew when he cancelled 70 per cent of Apple’s product lines in order to focus on only the best and biggest opportunities. In crisis, protect the core. Pull the plug on non-core activities.
  • Review prices and margins. Many companies are afraid to raise prices or set minimum margins for fear of losing customers, but it’s the best way to figure out who your best customers really are, and to clear out the unprofitable ones. Every penny of these exercises goes directly to the bottom line. No surprise, then, that the companies I have seen do this all wish they had done it sooner.
  • Refocus on the customer: What do your customers want and need? What are their biggest pain points, and how can you relieve them? Get out and talk to the customers. (It’s a shame so many companies wait till they’re in trouble to do this.) Once you have identified new ideas, opportunities and solutions, let the customers know the new directions your company is taking – and how they contributed to its success.
  • Keep employees well informed of the company’s plans and decisions. In the absence of facts, fear breeds confusion and negativity. Keep everyone informed, involved, and marching forward.
  • Paint a clear picture of what you’re trying to do and the process you are following. Share this vision with all your all stakeholders (customers, employees, suppliers, investors, bankers, etc.). You want everyone to know that there is a better future ahead, and that their sacrifice, hard work and faith will not be in vain. Make sure to offer a specific reward at the end, whether it’s increased job security, bonuses, profit-sharing, and/or a blowout party to end all parties.

Diamonds can only be created under great pressure. Whether your company needs a major rethink or you are simply looking for new opportunities for growth, crisis thinking can create the new opportunities you and your team are looking for.

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Category: Innovation

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Jan 20, 2015

Did Target ever really come to Canada? Not according to their Mission Statement.

Leases in less than optimum locations, a weak supply chain and runaway ambition in opening 133 stores may have all ganged up to doom Target in Canada.  But, there’s one corporate failure that intrigues me even more.  Target ignored its own mission statement. ‘Our mission is to make Target your preferred shopping destination in all channels by delivering outstanding value, continuous innovation and exceptional guest experiences by consistently fulfilling our Expect More. Pay Less.® brand promise.’

Target must have known, before coming to Canada, that it wouldn’t be able to offer U.S. price points or U.S. selection.  It also must have known that those were the two things Canadians loved about shopping at Target south of the border.  So, here’s the $5.4 billion question… if you can’t get those two fundamental promises right, why bother coming to Canada at all?  The cheap chic appeal of Target didn’t travel well.

Maybe more than anything else, Target’s ungracious exit from Canada shines an uncomfortably bright light on the whole exercise of creating mission statements in the first place.  I think for many companies, mission statements and the accompanying brand promise are just corporate accessories that they feel are a mandatory part of a website or annual report.  Leaders and managers only seem to pay attention to them when it suits them and ignore them too often and too hastily when a shiny new opportunity arises. The result, yet another announcement in the media of a shuttered company. In this case, one that was ill-fated from the start by it’s seemingly altered promise of expect more, pay more and receive less, in Canada.

At Spyder Works, our brand promise is encapsulated in Building Business by Design®. Design, of course, referring to the thought and intention behind the creation of a new idea or direction. Whenever we are creating something for a client, we test it against that statement. Ensuring that whatever we create is single-mindedly focused on our client’s own promise to their customers.

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Category: Business, Spyder Works

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