Growth Newsletter

When I was a whipper-snapper, I was an avid participant in the scouting movement for seven years. I loved hanging out weekly with a bunch of like minded individuals and some great mentor leaders, learning new skills, going on camps and making a contribution to our local community. Some of my strongest memories are from that time in my life.

Over recent months, there has been a trend of business owners expressing their frustration when a staff member leaves them. All that time invested in getting them trained up, only for them to take their skills elsewhere. How inconsiderate?

It’s interesting the various family businesses that I work with. The industries may be different. The family dynamics may be different. The financial side of things can fluctuate wildly amongst different businesses. However, often the problems are the same across all of them, be they a blue collar trades based business or a professional services firm.

“Don’t Change” happens to be my favourite INXS song, perhaps because it is so powerful a memory of my teenage years. Now, incredibly, almost 36 years old (for the audio nerds, it was off the Shabooh Shoobah album), the distinctive voice of Michael Hutchence suggests to the object of his desires to “don’t change for you, don’t change a thing, for me.”

Whilst Hutchence implored his love to stay as she is, the fact remains that through our lives, our experiences, for better or for worse, impose change on us. Some of it we force. Some of it merely happens. I’d suggest that for most people, it is resisted as it takes us out of our comfort zone.

I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that last week, I ventured to the Northern Territory for the first time. Why it has taken me 50 years to head to Central Australia is a question I can’t honestly answer. However, it was a completely unforgettable experience that my wife and I are aiming to repeat sooner than later.

In the first week of the new financial year, let’s take a moment to get financial.

In all my years of advising family business, I’ve observed businesses that have strong cash reserves and strong cashflow have always done better than businesses that don’t. Notice the deliberate emphasis on “and”.

2018 to date has been an interesting year for a number of the family businesses that I have relationships with.

Here’s some of my observations:

In a meeting I held last week with one of my great clients, the conversation turned to the subject of rewards.

To paint the picture, this family business owner works incredibly hard, in a challenging industry and has been making great strides in his business over the past two years that we’ve worked intensively together. The business has grown. Profits are up. He’s bringing in new people and mentoring those around him as he looks to make this family business less owner-centric.

On Tuesday evening last week, I was heading home from the City after a late appointment. It was pouring with rain, something that we’ve not been that used to in Sydney recently. The journey was proving to be an interesting experience in my Ford Falcon XR8 Sprint which, to be honest, is a “twitchy” car to drive at the best of times.

Are you as loyal to your customers and clients as they are to you? Do you appreciate the length of the relationship that you have and do you honour it accordingly?