Avoiding The "Founder's Trap"
In any small business,
the owner’s or founder’s way of doing things tends to prevail. Not surprising - they’re the one who set the
business up in the first place.
One of the things about which people continually complain is
that they have no freedom to change things - even if it’s for the better (in
their eyes). During my career, I’ve seen
family businesses “lose” the next generation because Mum or Dad wouldn't let
them do things differently. Result: the
business either dies, or has to hire in “outsiders” who again get frustrated by
the perceived intransigence of the founder (as we’ll call him/her from now on)
and leave.
If a small business is to survive, it’s important to avoid
the “Founder’s Trap”, i.e. “My way or the highway” described above. The “next generation” need to appreciate that
the founder has spent (and continues to spend) plenty of blood, sweat and tears
building the business to what it has become.
On the other side, founders often fail to grasp that the
next generation have grown up with different experiences and may be more “in
touch” with a more effective way of doing things. I remember the surprise and delight of one
founder in his eighties when his children showed him the power of a Facebook
advertisement that cost only a few dollars.
He’d never considered this before because it just wasn’t on his
proverbial “radar”, but he was missing a vital trick in his particular market,
as he found from the enquiries that suddenly started coming in.
So what does this all mean?
Not revolution, but rather evolution. It involves the founder understanding
that they should (and can) let go gradually.
After all, they made plenty of mistakes when they first started, and
they’re in the best position to pass that experience on to those who follow
them. Equally, “Nobody lives
forever”. This is why so many banks
require “Key Man Insurance” when they can see that a business relies on one
person only for its success and ability to pay off its banking lines. If they can see that there’s more than one
pair of “safe hands”, they feel more comfortable.
Equally, the “next generation” have to find it within
themselves to allow “Mum”, “Dad” (or
whoever it may be) the time to build confidence in them. From personal experience and observation, I
can say with all sincerity that this can be very hard.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 09:53
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