ESTABLISH
A FRAMEWORK TOWARDS SOCIETAL IMPACT
In India, Tata has successfully been the
most valuable conglomerate in the country. At that stage, its not about the
product that the customers are buying, but they are buying the brand and the
experience. Learning from such success stories can take us a long way.
These
successes are created due to a “Built to last” mindset. Most stable foundations of a business are always formed with this
long term attitude of building a brand.
ABILITY
TO EXECUTE STEP 2 AND 3
So, You had a perfect launch. The going is
good and enough traction has been raised initially. But is that it?
Your ability to recognise transitions
needed beyond a successful launch will determine the direction that your brand
will take.
Microsoft is one of the best examples for
executing the next steps and foreseeing the next generation demands. Microsoft
was over dependent on Windows at one stage and under the leadership of Satya
Nadela, it changed its focus to Azure cloud which has today become a
significant business division. In fact, due to its new focus, at the time of
researching this, Microsoft is the most valuable private company in the world
beating Amazon, Google and Apple. It took a while to reach back on top, but
wasn’t that the long term goal?
MOVE
BEYOND FOUNDER DRIVEN DECISIONS
Typically, in family owned businesses, the
key decisions are made by a small group of individuals. In today’s
technological revolution, it becomes untenable to sustain with only internal
business knowledge. Businesses fail to adapt to the changing dynamics and
eventually lead to the fall. This is one of the reasons why a system of delegation and distribution
should be implemented for decision making and execution.
Bringing the next generation into the business without exposing them to the real world and the markets is another flaw that luxury based family businesses have in-built. It should NOT be a given that your child, nephew or niece will join the business.
Let
your child or other family members EARN the entry into the business. Show them the world, let them struggle in figuring out their
expertise, and let them bring an outsiders’ perspective into the business.
Create an ecosystem for them to thrive within. Allow them to take out a single
vertical of the business and transform it, and then integrate it.
Build a team that runs itself, this
is most critical and the biggest challenge.
Transforming a brand is not a short run, but
a marathon. It will take time, requires consistency and the results may only
come after a few years. If adapted well, the results will be positive.
Wouldn't it be a good idea to create a course?
