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By Marian Banker On July 12, 2010No CommentsI recently was presented with a situation where a business owner had hired her father in the position of CFO. At the time the father had just retired from another business and had the skill set that was needed in the daughter’s business. The fact that there had been a long-standing negative relationship between the two was pushed aside in an attempt to be expedient, and with the thought that perhaps this might improve the personal relationship between them. As you might imagine, the father had done things his way for years and was not really open to taking orders from his daughter.
So the negative relationship was continuing, now on a business basis as well. When questioned in any fashion the father threatened to retire again, but the daughter still needed the help, so they’d have a discussion and reach what she thought was agreement. But, of course, the father went back to doing things as he saw fit, rather than letting her take the lead. She found this lack of control very draining on her emotionally and physically. But she still needed someone to function as CFO.
After discussing it with me she realized she really needed to find someone who would be willing to work WITH her and follow her lead. Her plan is to bring on a consultant to function as temporary CFO. If he/she works out the person will become permanent. Over the next 30 days she will actively seek a replacement for her father and tell her father that she is accepting his retirement. She expects to get some flack and more negativity, but she has realized that her father will never change (cannot change) and she needs to take back control of her business.
Too often I see business owners putting up with employees, often parents, who are non-productive or counterproductive. Sometimes a work-around can be made. I have one client whose father handed over the business to her but remained in the business. Because he functions mostly as an ambassador he is not blocking productivity. In this case it’s good for the parent and the business, but think long and hard before agreeing to have a family member in your business, especially a parent. Make sure they are not holding you hostage in your own business.
Do you have an interesting story to share about child-parent business relationships?
Recent Posts
By Marian Banker On May 12, 2010
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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.
Read the entire article…
By Marian Banker On May 7, 2010
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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.
By Marian Banker On May 3, 2010
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Today’s Daily News stated that companies with 20 or fewer employees have been growing at a steady, if modest, pace this year.
Small business employment has grown 4%, while employee compensation increased slightly, by half a percentage point.
The growth in employment has been trending upward since June 2009, and businesses have added about 300,000 new jobs since then, according to a study by financial software company Intuit.
