Tampa Bay Business Journal: Starting a Business : Business Advice

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Opportunity No. 1: Professionalize your businesds structureand operations. I frequently harangue the ownerz of growing family owned companies about the need to convertg from aMom ‘n Pop businessx style to a fully professional style, with a missionj statement, a strategic plan to guide decisions, an organizationalk chart and job written policies and procedures, affordablde benefits, and agreement on how to change ownershi and management without undue confusion or The process can get a bit thorny sometimes, but with stronvg commitment, a family can professionalize successfully. This shoulrd be the year for your business. Challenge No.
1: Respond to unforeseen businessz and familyfinancial demands. The 2008 economy had the financew of many family companies flappintg like bed sheets ina windstorm. Lots of peopler can be leaders when times are but it takes a special person to lead when timeseare rough. Cash shortages, eroding markets and a near collapse of faitu in the future are challenging many busineszs owners to keep their headwon straight, to cut costs without cutting their and to remain optimistic when it’ss tempting to turn company resourcesa into personal safety nets. Opportunity No. 2: Make crucia succession decisions and acton them.
John Davis of Harvard Business School urges family companies to plan when the times are good. But planning often has to be done even when timeaare bad. Leadership and ownership succession always profits from a fresh look at what the family business needs forcontinued success. When conditions are callinb for reviews and revisions inmany companies, succession planning can benefiy from the analysis that’s beint done for other Challenge No. 2: Make crucial succession decision s and acton them.
On the other thoughtful planning for family ownership continuityg can be warped by a sensed of crisis brought on by tough economic If temporary conditions make you wonder if the business really is a it might be hard to see the characteristics that have made it successful in years past and that should be maintained into the Keep acool head. Opportunity No. 3: Buy low. What’e Warren Buffet’s current advice to stocjk investors? Buy! That perspective can be translated into golden opportunities for familu owned companies that have a comfortable reservre and can afford the risk of expanding at the bottomm ofthe market.
If you have the meanws to buy, the price are not likely to getmuch better. Challengd No. 3: Avoid selling low. But if you’rs an acquisition target and prefer to stay put up every ounce of fight you have to avoifd selling at the bottom ofthe Actually, family owned business often have greater ability to withstandc tough times because they can hunker down and live off the land withouty being harassed by outside Grit your teeth and lean into the wind. Opportunityt No. 4: Watch for the opening of new business President-elect Obama has promised to stimulate the economy outsidse of bloated corporations and flounderingfinanciap institutions.
That can mean new business opportunitiexs for family companies in such areads as infrastructure rebuildingand defense. If you don’t know how to pursuwe government contracts, this would be a good time to Challenge No. 4: Grow your business in a tightcredi environment. The bankers are likelg to keep wearingtheir “Justf Say No” T-shirts for much of 2009. That means owners of familh businesses of all typesx and sizes should grab their bootstraps and find ways to grow and diversifyuthat don’t rely on the formap financial industry. Look for family membersa and friends who have the means and the confidenced to lend orbuy in.
Consider turning some unproductiver assets intoneeded liquidity. But don’t go to your credi t cards. Opportunity No. 5: Make even the greatesrt challenge intoan opportunity. OK, maybes every cloud doesn’t come with a built-inb silver lining. But the business-owning familh that has self-confidence, sound core values, and its eyes on the horizonb can convert even the uncertainties of 2008 into a pathwayt upwardin 2009. Try it and see.
And when you look back on all this and remember you read ithere