The Business of Family - Episodes Tagged with “Adviser”

Bradley J Franc - Increase the Value and Maintain the Values

Mike Boyd — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 17:15:00 +1000

Bradly J. Franc (“Brad”), is the creator and author of the Amazon best-selling book entitled The Succession Solution: The Strategic Guide to Business Transition. His firm The Succession Coach LLC, works with business owners to create as well as execute on their succession plans.

Brad is an attorney, entrepreneur, and business strategist who specializes in the transfer of family and closely-held businesses. He is also a former board member of Catalyst Connection.

Brad began his professional career by becoming a CPA and working for the international accounting firm now known as EY. From there, Brad became an entrepreneurial strategic business adviser and a business lawyer representing every aspect of the closely-held business.

Standout Quotes:

"Writing is the highest form of thinking" - [Brad]
"It's not that there's a particular process but you pick a process" - [Brad]
"The longer you wait, the fewer the options you have, with respect to succession planning" - [Brad]
"You can't do strategic planning unless you understand the company's culture" - [Brad]
"It is incredible how many times people think they know what they have, and they don't" - [Brad]
"Conflict is good, it gets things out" - [Brad]
"All progress begins with honesty" - [Brad]
"Most people overestimate what they can do in a year, they underestimate what they can do in ten" - [Brad]
"If you want to improve something, measure it, if you want to improve something exponentially, measure it and have a report on it" - [Brad]
"Succession planning is a form of strategic planning" - [Brad]
"For things to stay the same, things must change" - [Brad]
"I try to tell that next gen, 'your job is to increase the value and to maintain the values' " - [Brad]

Key Takeaways:

Bradley is the author of the Amazon bestseller "The Succession Solution" and his firm, 'The Succession Coach' works with business owners to create and execute their succession plans. Brad is now an entrepreneurial strategic business adviser and a business lawyer representing closely-held businesses.
Brad had started as a CPA with the goal to reduce taxes, and later he went on to go to law school. He realized he was helping but not solving the problem so he merged strategic planning with Estate and Succession planning which formed the Succession Solution.
Initially, his goal was to simply put down the strategy so he could convince himself that it was feasible, however, he realized someone else could also benefit from reading it. This was how he went ahead to write his book, The Succession Solution.
After starting a business that had made losses for two years, Brad employed strategic planning and the difference was clear; the business bounced back.
There are 3 types of succession; Succession of Knowledge, Management, and Ownership. It is unlikely to be able to ensure the succession of management and ownership without the transfer of knowledge. However, more often than not. Succession involves the transfer of ownership with closely held business owners.
The Succession Solution: Brad usually starts by discussing with the significant stakeholders to understand what is on the ground before getting fully involved. He also ensures the family is willing to cooperate and gets commitment upfront.
The 6 stages of the succession plan: The first stage is the Purpose stage; identifying the basic values, the vision, and the "Why?". Next is the Discovery stage; understanding where they are before starting. The third step is the Challenge; to identify their strengths, opportunities, and most importantly, the obstacles. Most of the time what people want to get from the 6 steps is certainty because uncertainty creates anxiety.
Brad emphasizes that conflict is good however, how that conflict is managed is critical. Communication and trust are the reason most companies fail.
The fourth stage of the succession plan is the Mission stage. This is where the group sets milestones and creates strategies to overcome the obstacles previously identified. The Annual stage is next, and here the group decides steps that need to be taken within the next 12 months, to get closer to the milestones already set. The last stage is the Quarterly Review stage where the question is "what do we do in the next 90 days to get closer to the objective for the Annual stage?"
The conversation of succession planning is a function of the board, hence, while members of the younger generation can have a personal conversation with their parents as the business leaders, it is fundamentally expected that the board is well suited to answer these questions. It is also helpful to talk to the professionals.
Giving purpose to the outgoing generation of leaders in the family business is highly essential as it is a part of their transition. A good step is to create a family council for them to transition into, allowing them to offer more insight particularly on the culture and values of the business. The family office and council would also need succession planning.
Succession planning is a form of strategic planning, as such, families should consider commencing strategic planning right after planning for succession.
"The job of the incoming generation is to increase the value and to maintain the values" it is the job of the senior leadership to educate the upcoming leaders on the values of the business.
Lack of planning for succession can ultimately lead to a closure of the business or loss of key employees due to uncertainty.
Listeners who want to know how to get started with succession planning are encouraged to educate themselves first; Brad's book, "The Succession Solution" is a good resource. With adequate knowledge, they can also discuss with professionals.
Brad's letter to his children: Never stop reading; if you want to improve yourself, read books.

Episode Timeline:

[00:49] Introducing today's guest, Bradley J Franc.
[01:53] Brad shares his backstory.
[04:25] What inspired you to write your book, "The Succession Story"?
[05:52] Discussing the importance and role of Strategic Planning.
[09:10] At what point do you typically get involved in the business?
[10:50] The Succession Solution (6 stages of the succession plan)
[26:10] How can the upcoming generation approach the conversation of succession planning with the leader in the business?
[32:13] Do you also create succession plans for the family council?
[36:04] Consequences of poor succession planning.
[40:21] What do you suggest as a first step in succession planning?
[42:00] Brad's letter to his children.

For more episodes go to
BusinessOfFamily.net

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If you feel it's appropriate, I'd so appreciate you taking 30 seconds to Leave a Review on iTunes, I receive a notification of each review. Thank you! Special Guest: Bradley J Franc .

Nike Anani - Building a Generational Bridge in African Family Firms

Mike Boyd — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 19:00:00 +1000

Nike is the founder and CEO of Nike Anani Practice, Ltd., in Lagos, Nigeria, where she helps second-generation family business members collaborate with the founding generation in an effort to build sustainable family enterprises in the region. No more than 2% of African family businesses successfully transition power to the second generation, and Nike has made it her mission to facilitate this generational merge.

With over a decade of experience working with select business families in Africa, Nike Anani helps owners lead their family organizations to long-term impact and legacy.

Her clients choose to engage her, not only because of her extensive professional training, but also because of her practical experience as both a business founder and a NextGen. This allows her to uniquely empathise with both generations and act as a connector to the Founding generation.

Standout Quotes:

"And that's an observation I have of founders and entrepreneurs, they're just amazing people that have an eye for opportunity" - [Nike]
"As most founders do, it was about giving me the best opportunity to set me up for success and often in their minds, success is going as far away from the business to get the best experience...so they can come back" - [Nike]
"In Nigeria, 90% of indigenous businesses are family businesses, but only 2% survive beyond the founder" - [Nike]
"Family businesses are so key to the community, if they keep failing after a generation, then what's that doing to the economy?" - [Nike]
"I think that starting from a relatively small base, the best way to build anything is with community, and actually building what that community wants rather than just dictating something that you found off the shelf from another culture" - [Mike]
"If you've seen one family business, you've seen one family business" - [Nike]
"A friend of mine says whenever you wake up is your morning, some people don't wake up until they're 85, they don't know what they want" - [Nike]
"I need to be in the best version of myself so I can serve people to the best of my ability" - [Nike]
"There's always something new to learn, we've never arrived, we're just on this ongoing journey of endless learning, in my view" - [Nike]
"There's no position that's guaranteed in life, whether it be a position of material success or honor, today you might be celebrated but it doesn't mean tomorrow you will be" - [Nike]
"It is important to ensure that people's external projections don't become your internal story, because your story is the most powerful thing that you can give yourself" - [Nike]

Key Takeaways:

Nike is a 2nd generation family business owner, and she narrates how her father started the family business initially as a side-hustle.
Describing events around her entry into the business, she shares the plan was to only stay for a few months in Nigeria, gain exposure to business in general, and move back to the UK eventually. However, she was drawn to the spirit of entrepreneurship there and felt more liberated as a young black female.
Nike explains that while her father had expressed general support for her in any field she was planning to go into, she had never expected she would work in the family business.
A glaring disparity in the decision-making process between her former place of work and the family business was the time taken which could be much shorter or longer in different scenarios, leaving her befuddled about family business as a whole. This encouraged her to get professional education at the Family Firm Institute in Boston.
Employing her knowledge in her family business, Nike started the process of "Governance" which involved her siblings more, intending to avert the typical dissolution that plagued most Nigerian family businesses after the founding generation.
Another strategy adopted involved starting the conversation by creating a community called "African Family Firms" for African families facing similar challenges to meet and navigate through these issues.
Nike highlights various peculiarities of African families, noting how these have to be put into consideration when trying to find solutions to the survival of family businesses in Africa.
You won't know what you want until you come together as a family, have open conversations, and plan for different scenarios. Get clear as a family on who you are, what your values are, the goals of the family, and the purpose of the family business.
Emphasizing the importance of continuous learning, Nike embraces the process as a part of being the best version of herself.
A significant failure that set her up for success took place in school, where the result she got at some point would not be good enough for the jobs she wanted, and this motivated her to push herself harder than ever before to achieve her desired goal.
Nike’s parents impressed upon her certain values described as 4Hs and 2Ps. The 4Hs are Honesty, Hard work, Humility, and Harmony while the 2Ps are People and Places. All of these were included in the family constitutional value system when the formal family enterprise was set up.
It is important to understand that while people can project their weaknesses onto you and vilify you, their external projections should not become your internal story because your story is the most powerful thing you can give yourself, and you have to hold on to that story.

Episode Timeline:

[00:50] Meet Today's guest, 'Nike Anani'.
[01:56] Nike's personal and professional background.
[08:30] How did the family make the jump from medical consumables to construction and building hospitals?
[16:55] How were you inspired to learn more about the Business of Family?
[23:00] Since the wake-up call that you received, what did you do about it for your own family or your friends' families?
[29:50] Do people document entitlements for kin or rather more of a bloodline lineage?
[32:53] Challenges surrounding Real Estate planning in Africa.
[39:18] An overview of Nike's different roles in family business generally.
[50:15] Has there been a specific failure that you've learned a great deal from?
[56:00] Apart from education, what else came through as fundamentally important from your parents?
[59:40] Nike's letter to her kids.

For more episodes go to
BusinessOfFamily.net

Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeBoyd

If you feel it's appropriate, I'd so appreciate you taking 30 seconds to Leave a Review on iTunes, I receive a notification of each review. Thank you!

Special Guest: Nike Anani.