Husband and Wife Business Partner Challenges
I recently started working with a husband and wife partnership running a company of 40 employees and $20M in revenue. They came to me because they seemed to butt heads whenever they had a decision to make. Each had strong feelings about how things should be done and frequently found it difficult to reach an agreement. Fortunately they both were eager to find a resolution to their communication issues, which they had not been able to resolve on their own.
In addition to finding out where they were together and where they were apart, I learned each of their strengths. I asked if there was a delineation of duties, with each having responsibility for specific areas. While it seems they knew their areas of strength they did not have anything like a table of organization.
So their first assignment was to agree that each would be the final decision-maker for specific areas. The husband took web site development and marketing; the wife took operations and product management. For projects they agreed that the individual responsible for the department bearing the bulk of the work would oversee the project from beginning to end and would assign tasks to the other departments if needed.
They also agreed that before major decisions were made in their areas they would run the details and facts by the other partner. If the other partner had issues or concerns they would take 24 – 48 hours to consider everything before making a final decision.
This change meant they would need to communicate the new structure to their department heads, which is on the agenda for next time.
They have used the new system for 2 weeks and things seem to have gone smoothly so far. We’ll see what comes up as new projects are started and the staff adjust to a clearer delineation of roles and responsibilities.
Does Your Business Function Like a Family Business?
Does your business function like a family business even though it’s not? In his Business Journal article, James Lea says that some small businesses share similar characteristics to that of a family run business.
“For example, both the nonfamily family business and the true family business may rely on informal, unstructured decision making processes. Decisions are made exclusively by the senior person in the business.
Decisions may be made opportunistically or under the pressure of a crisis instead of in a timely, strategic fashion. Sometimes there’s not a shred of evidence on the table to help illuminate the issues. Sometimes there’s no decision. The issue is talked about until everyone loses interest and wanders away to keep on doing business as usual.”
Among other shared characteristics might be:
- the lack of a true management structure, and as the business grows nothing is put in place. Record keeping and reporting are often handled only in a crunch.
- interaction between staff is also unstructured and can get off track easily
- accountability at all levels is often soft or non-existent, often just to appease personalities and overlook lack of competence
- lack of a clear succession plan
On the positive side these types of businesses exhibit strong loyalty among the group and to the company.
Information Overload: How to Cut Through the Clutter
Two or three years ago you could create a marketing campaign, send out a series of e-mails and expect a reasonable response rate. Things have changed. We’ve hit information overload and we just don’t have time to read and respond to everything we’d like.
Information overload has become a chronic problem, so if you want to reach your target you must cut through the clutter. Something has to really grab me and be super easy or I’ll just delete it. And that seems to be true for many people I speak with. So how do you move beyond information overload to reach those who will want to respond to your outreach?
Here are some strategies to consider.
Create a Compelling Message
What are the most urgent issues your ideal customer is facing? You can ask when someone signs up for your mailing list, downloads an online item or purchases something from you. Don’t just get their name and e-mail address, send an autoresponder asking them to send you a reply. Keep it simple and as easy as possible.
Ask people you meet at networking and events what are their urgent issues. Create products and services that address the most common ones. Then create your message using keywords that have surfaced during your research.
Make It Super Easy
The other day I wanted to sign up for an event and when I looked for the time and how to sign up I couldn’t find it right away. Within 20 seconds I was gone. I just wouldn’t take the time to wade through the content to find it…and neither will your prospects.
I offer the One Page Marketing Plan, which makes it super easy to create your marketing plan. It’s a step by step do-it-yourself system with everything you need to not only create your plan, but use it as well. Simple, step by step is what you want.
Offer to Do It For Them
But some people would rather have me do it for them. Obviously I will need information from them, but once I have that I can apply my own techniques to create their plan. It costs more, of course, but for those who want a strategic plan to follow, my consulting services are perfect for them.
People want results, but they often don’t want to or don’t have time to do the work to get them. If you can do it for them or at least partially do it for them, you’ve got a strong selling point.
Make More Direct Connections
I have found that I’m much more successful when I reach out directly, one-to-one to people who are in my network. These are people who have purchased something from me in the past, have participated in an event I hosted, or are a prospect I’ve had a meaningful dialogue with.
The telephone is still a wonderful business tool. What I’ve learned works best when you’re reaching out to someone you haven’t communicated with recently is to make a phone call telling the person you’re sending them an e-mail. On the call or in the voicemail tell them what it’s about briefly, making it as compelling as possible so they will read the e-mail. Otherwise it may just get deleted without being opened.
Leverage Social Media
Business is still built on relationships. It’s just that the way in which those relationships are managed has morphed somewhat with the advent of information overload. The social media offers great tools, but be careful, because they can add to the sense of overload. Be selective and consistent and people will begin to know, like and trust you. I’m much more likely to respond to something from someone I know rather than someone I don’t know.
Newsletters (like this one) are still a viable option for staying in touch, but the open rate has dropped. So I need to apply the other options as well.
Apply as many of these strategies as you can and you’ll be ahead of your competition.
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Want to work together with other entrepreneurs on things like this? Join my new CEO Roundtable, a one-hour small group tele-session (4 maximum). Bring your issues and your concerns to the group and together we’ll offer you the benefit of my coaching and the group’s knowledge and experience. Next group starts Tuesday, May 25th at 1 p.m. RSVP to marian@primestrategies.com to discuss and see if it’s a good fit for you. Coaching at a fraction of the cost of individual sessions.