As I write this, the country is glueing itself to their screens. TVs, laptops, phones and tablets: every device under the sun shows the same pictures and tells the same story. Today, and for the next week, the country will watch on as a very public family feud in the most high-profile of arenas.
Listening to the interviews with Harry, the language he uses is alarming. He speaks about their parting of the ways like the dividing of a boardroom. We have heard the word ‘institution’ banded about a great deal these last few weeks about the royal family. Even the family themselves are known to refer to themselves as “The Firm” – a familial industrial complex, balancing significant financial and political power that, based on what we are learning, take precedence over the ties that bind a family.
As a writer for trade press, specifically for the convenience sector, you might understandably be wondering why I’m bringing this up here, of all places.
Somewhere in the region of 70% of stores in the convenience sector are independent. The majority of those are family-run. The exact statistic is difficult to track down partly as a result of being equally hard to collate. The point here is that our sector, perhaps more than others, can find some commonalities with the British royal family. How many of you are engaged in a business relationship with family members?
I’m not suggesting that your family business is doomed to tear itself apart during TV interviews with Tom Bradbury; far from it. Nevertheless, as the cultural spotlight focuses on a very public family business, we should acknowledge the challenges inherent to that blended relationship. It’s also worth bringing up just how valuable it can be to us as business owners and to our communities!
The potential pitfalls of a family business are oh so similar to the challenges faced by monarchies the world over that have repeated themselves throughout history, even if the comparatively small scale might make the comparison slightly funny…
SUCCESSION
Not just a popular HBO series, succession can be the elephant in the room with family businesses. The owners of most family-run businesses are the patriarch/matriarch – mums and dads who will one day find themselves having to pass the business down the line. Perhaps the heir to your business may not want to involve themselves, or there are multiple children with varying stakes in your retail business. For many, your younger family members may be entirely willing participants excited by the prospect of keeping the family operation alive.
Every family-owned store will be a little bit different, of course.
While our monarchy is currently proving itself to be set in its ways, struggling to handle the introduction of a maverick, breakaway force like Prince Harry; for our businesses, the watchword for us should be ‘adaptability’. We have to face the possibility of changing circumstances. No business can live forever; that is simply the nature of the marketplace. We have to work hard to be successful today and tomorrow but be prepared to move on to the next thing down the road. Who knows what the future holds for any of us?
THE GENERATIONAL DIVIDE
“But that’s how we’ve always done things…”
How many of you have heard this in and around your businesses? How many of you have been guilty of saying it?
By definition, when we work together as a family, different generations will find themselves locking horns from time to time.
Perhaps new technology might cause a rift as our increasing reliance on contactless payment changes how we operate in-store. Maybe the older generations are attached to a dated fascia or store layout. Are younger family members encouraging you to stock products you’re convinced won’t sell? In these conflicts, we see the inherent challenges of working together across the generations.
We must remember that a family business is effectively an externalised representation of the family unit. As such, I can only encourage compromise. While the older generation will have the wisdom necessary to run the business effectively, the younger will have their finger on the pulse! One half of the business’ brain must listen to the other! While we sometimes have to let go of the old ways of doing things, it can be done without losing sight of what makes the business have value to you in the first place:
- Update your fascia, but keep your recognisable colour scheme.
- Tweak your store layout, but keep highlighting your traditional best seller.
I could go on. Each of you will no doubt find your way to navigate this.
THE UPSIDES
Don’t think that I’m being negative about family-run businesses. For all of their potential pitfalls, the benefits are far more numerous.
For brevity, I want to highlight what I think might be the most important one.
One of the best parts of working in convenience retail is our connection to the local communities that we serve.
Our stores are a constant: lighthouses surrounded by ever-changing circumstances. Part of being that welcome, stable service is our ability to be recognisable. As family-run businesses, we can grow into our communities beyond the logos of our suppliers and symbol groups. the human element: our family names can become a more welcoming and reassuring identifier for us than brand names.
This is something that we should not take for granted. As the world grows ever more distant in the age of social media and post-lockdown; our recognisable faces, day after day, generation after generation, are important. It is in this way that our sector is so unique!
As the business arm of the monarchy circles the wagons and goes on the defensive, perhaps damaging themselves in the process; we and our family-run businesses can remember to focus on what’s important: the familial relationships that make those businesses thrive in the first place.
