Family Business Advisor

Planning for Business Families

2010-07-04T09:50:00.003+10:00

Every senior family member engaged in a family busines should read a book by Randel S. Carlock and John L.Ward titled 'Strategic Planning For the Family Business'

As an advisor to families in business, I am concerned by the lack of time spent on developing strategic plans that ensure the family and business objectives are mutually supportive.

In my experience there is too much time at board meetings looking at results that have already happened. One of the primary responsibilities of a board is to set the strategic direction and then delgate that resonsibilitiy to the CEO and the senior management to achieve the expected outcome.

At regular intervals, the board should take time out and hold a strategic review planning day. This should be at a location away from the usual place of work and facilitated by someone who is experienced in the process. And, there are many tools that are useful in getting great results from such a day.

Contact me if your would like any further information: billwinter@bigpond.com.au

Plane Crash Lessons

2010-06-23T10:26:00.003+10:00

The recent plane crash where a whole board of a company died should cause concern for owners and directors of private companies.

On top of this, recent research coming out from Stanford Universtity highlights that more than half of private business surveyed cannot name a successor to their CEO.

In my experince in private companies, the percentage would be more like ninety percent do not a working succession plan for a staff member to take over if the CEO or MD died suddenly.

In fact how many family board members or senior executives travel overseas on the same plane ? I bet the board members who died earlier this week did not believe it would happen to them.

Have a look in your own business and role play a situation where a couple of your senior leaders
are no longer able to come to work.

What is your back up plan ?

There are plenty of examples in Australia where where this has happened and guess who was first to knock on the door. ?

The bank of course ! After all they hold most of the outstanding loans.

I have recently come across two large medium size companies and they both do not have any Business Continuity Plan ( BCP ) in place. And, in both examples, the CEO was not interested. One of these is a small listed entity with a turnover of $70 million.

Go ahead and do the role play or simulation and see what gaps you identify.

A great book to read for families in business

2010-06-20T09:45:00.005+10:00

I have just finished reading for the second time a book titled Strategic Planning for the Family Business by Randel Carlock and John Ward.

Last year research by KMPG and FBA in Australia indicated that only 26% of family companies have a formal business strategy in place. This book is a great insight into the issue of intergrating the needs of the family with the need to ensure the business is the vehicle that generates the resourses to meet the family expectations.

Many business owners sometimes become confused with business planning and strategic planning. This book will help make sense of the the whole issue of strategic planning.

My concept of strategy is that it is the tactics you are going to use to get to where you want to be in the future.

For example, I have just started a new boutique business consulting company with two collegues ( http://www.symphony3.com.au/ ) and when determining our internal operational strategy, we have decided that the admin will be done online. That is a clear strategic decision made to eliminate the need for physical facilities. In fact we will look to outsourcing secretarial work online.

Also its import to be clear that strategic planning is worthless unless there is first a strategic vision ( John Naisbit )

The book is available online at amazon.com

Family Business and External Directors

2010-05-24T06:00:00.003+10:00

last Wednesday I completed a series of talks for the Australian Institute of Company Directors on the topic of the benefits Family Business engaging external non family directors.

The session last Wednesday included Chris Stillwell, the Chairman of the Stillwell Motor Group and Adele Levinge , second generation director at the Dennis Group. Both presented their family business story and highlighted value that external directors added to their business.

Their stories reinforced the strength of family business in Australia and highlighted that many are operated to the highest professional standard.

The key message from their presentations was that external directors bring an independent and different business insights to the business. Often family members are too close to the business and get caught in the daily grind of running a business and they know only one way of doing things.

No one has a mortgage of smart thinking. An external director should be able to ask the hard or challenging questions and bring new experience and wisdom to the board table. They must respect confidentiality, act as mentors to the younger family board members and add to the diversity of the skills of the group.

Now that I have restarted this blog, I will detail some of the key points over the next few weeks on the AICD presentations.

I believe that family business boards are there to be custodians for future generations and

Everyone needs to be held accountable.

Non Family directors for Families in Business

2009-12-22T08:05:00.003+11:00

In March and April 2010 the Australian Institute of Company Directors will be holding a series of meetings for Families in Business in Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Warrnambool, Albury, Traralgon and in Melbourne. The dates will be published by the AICD in the New Year.

The key topic I will be presenting will detail the benefits of bringing outside directors onto your business board. My own experince as a non executive director by way of a real case study will hold some valuable insights on this.

We will also have a family business memebr from the regional area presenting their issues on succession with family members.

The recent survey by KPMG and the FBA highlights the importance of the topics.

Send me an email if you want any info : billwinter@bigpond.com.au

My blogs are on my web site

2009-05-18T17:03:00.001+10:00

My web site also features regular blogs about a variety of issues. Go to http://www.pointnorth.com.au/ for my latest blogs

SCA

2007-09-16T15:15:00.000+10:00

Sustainable Competitive Advantage ( SCA )

What does it really mean ?

"Your company offers your prospective customers a unique or distinctive benefit or advantage, above and beyond that of your competitors or they have no motivation to do business with you instead of your competitor."

or

What do you do to win the hearts and minds of your customers that your competitors will find extremely difficult to imitate in the long term.?

The expression SCA is in all the text books and any marketing guru worth their salt will tell you how important it is to your business.

Do you really know what is it that makes your family business better than all the others in your market space ? Or, maybe you do have a great SCA but you would have trouble articulating it. It is just the way you do things in your business, its your inbuilt business and family culture.

Think about the businesses that you go back to time after time. What would your customers and clients say to me if I asked them what your SCA was ?

Get this right and you are certain to experince success through the next generation or two.

Bill Winter

Your Business Name

2007-09-06T19:43:00.000+10:00

Have you ever had a lawyer check the status of your intellectual property?

Start with your brand name. I had a client who operated under a very well known name and logo in his local area. He had never bothered to register or trade mark the logo they used. I sent him to a trusted legal contact of mine and it ended up costing him $15,000 to ensure that his intellectual property was protected. If he had of done this from the start it woul have cost a fraction of that.

Did you know that in Australia your business name is only valid in the State that it is registered in.

This is even more important when you come to sell the business. I was interested in buying into a business about four years ago and found that they did not have their domain name registered. I then went out and registered it in my name and that stopped them ever being able to get the domain name of their business and, in my opinion lessened the value as they could not sell online with their own brand name.

When I did not go ahead and get involved I actually gave them back their own domain name for the cost of what I had spent. ( about $69 ) They were in shock when I told them.

Get some external advice on your brand status.

Bill Winter

Directors Compliance

2007-09-02T12:30:00.000+10:00

Being the director or senior manager of a privately owned company has the same resonsibilities and liabilities as those who are directors of large organisations.

I cannot believe how many owners of private companies think that they are immune due to their size. If you have a properly constituted legal company, the Corporations Act 2001 does not distinguish between big or small.

As well as general common law duties, duties under the corporations Act 2001, directors are subject to a wide range issues under various other laws and Acts.

Take a recent meeting with the owner of a private company turnover approaching $80 million revenue. " It's my business and I will run as I want to " was the answer to a question about setting up a formal compliance program.

Most privately owned companies have no written policy on;

1. Intellectual property
2. Trade practices
3. Privacy ( in most areas does not apply to companies with less than $3 million turnover.
4. OHS
5. Environmental law
6. Employment law
7. Anti-discrimination law
8. E-business
9. Outsoucing
10. Taxation

In today's business and legal environment it's a cost of doing business.

Do you go to sleep at night in blissfull ignorance of your real laibilities and responsibilities ?

Bill Winter

How to Sleep Better

2007-08-26T15:56:00.000+10:00

How to Sleep Better. Owner, Director Personal Liability

That's the title of a seminar to be held by the AICD this week in Melbourne as part of Victoria's Energise Enterprise 07.

Owners and directors face a broad range of laws where they can be personably liable for the actions or inactions of their companies staff. The penalities can be severe including jail.

Over the next month or so I will be discussing parts of my presentation at this seminar based on real life experiences that will highlight the failings of many owners and directors of privately owned companies with regard to risk management and compliance.

A headline last month in the Australian Companies Directors Magazine stated the following.

" ASIC prosecuted 561 company officers for 1,133 contraventions of the Corporations Act with fines and costs of $1.1 million. Six good behaviour bonds and 320 hours of community service"

Ignorance is no excuse when it comes to possible court action over non compliance.

Bill Winter

How many businesses are really for sale?

2007-05-16T19:42:00.000+10:00

I read an interesting report during the week that stated that there are thousands of privately owned business that will need to change hands in the next five to ten years.

Now, in my experience, this presents a real problem for many as I have come across very few who are ready for sale.

If you are the owner of a family business and also a baby boomer, seek expert advice as soon as possible and start managing your business as if someone will knock on your door tomorrow and want to carry our their due diligence. Involve your accountant and legal advisor.

Get them in the same room together and work through all the issues that would effect you from a tax and legal perspective. You might be surpised to find that this might be a long term exercise in order for you to maximise your net return after tax etc.

If you don't do it now you might as well just donate any spare dollars to the Government and close up shop and walk away.

Start planning now to exit your family business if there is no one to take over.

Bill Winter

Embezzlement, A painfull experience

2007-04-10T20:29:00.000+10:00

I have come across some situations that have caused family enterprises to suffer greatly at the hands of dishonest employees. In most of the examples no one saw it coming or they fell into the trap of having blind faith in the employees or business partner.

The biggest case was a trusted bookkeeper who the business owner told me he trusted with his life and she is now facing court action over amounts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Having an external auditor is no substitute for doing your own regular checks.

I have been taken myself in a professional partnership. Our financial partner ( The accountant ) went missing one day and after a year of picking up the pieces, being sued by people we did not know, and being out of pocket by many thousands of dollars we lost nearly everything we had. He was arrested at the airport trying to sneak back into Australia and later commited suicide the week before his trail. Not one cent was ever found.

I have too many stories to tell where so called loyal employees took trusting business owners to the cleaners because the trust was misguided.

Unfortunately for many of you in business, my advice is to keep double checking no matter how much you trust them.

Bill Winter

Age is no barrier

2007-04-06T09:51:00.000+10:00

In the Easter edition of the Financial Review there is an interesting article titled CEOs WHO NEVER DIE . They state that in the general business world, owners or CEOs of private companies are older than those in public companies. Much of this has to do with the intense scrutiny that the CEO of a listed company is under. Private company CEOs have more time and the ability to back their own judgement because thay have more control and probably, more passion.

I have come across many successful private company CEOs who are in their late sixties and seventies. This can also be the cause of frustration for the next generation who are in management positions and in probably in their fouties and wonder ( or hoping ) that the old fella will give it away. We carried my own father out at 72 with his boots on.

Try telling that to Gerry Harvey ( 67 ) , Frank Lowery (76), Lindsay Fox ( 70 ) , John Gandel ( 72) etc etc....

In many smaller companies one of the reasons for the older leaders hanging in there is because the next generation are not interested in staying in one spot for too long and they do not want to work the hours their parents did.

The fact that those who are in their sixties and seventies are still there is what is keeping them fit, alert and heathly.

It a case of the old saying Use it or lose it . If you retire too early and stop using your brain you will most likely end up many sitting in nursing homes not knowing or careing what day of the week it is.

Also remember that experience and knowledge equals wisdom.

It will be interesting to see how many of these equity buyout perform over time being run by the spread sheet gurus. It's all about short term gain.

Bill Winter

Internal Silos

2007-03-15T23:30:00.000+11:00

I have just finished reading a book titled Silos, Politics and Turf Wars written by Patrick Lencioni. ( I bought my copy on Amazon ) This book should be compulsory reading for all business that have various degrees of management layers.

Over the years I have experienced first hand how destructive executives can be when they engage in what I call Turf Wars. The only real loser in this activity is the company itself. Also the theory in this book applies to any type of organisation, large or small.

I am currently engaged in a project that requires all 150 employees to accept recent structural change and we are experiencing some disturbing conflict brought about because two or three key managers will not accpet the change and are hell bent on protecting their turf. As in any change management situation I have been involved with, there are always some who cause conflict trying to get things back to where they were before.

In family businesses it can be even more destructive as it usually involves family members and the fall out can cause family to split apart.

It takes careful leadership by the family business CEO to manage any change process and to be aware of the individual emotions within family groups.

For more information on this book go to www.tablegroup.com

Bill Winter

Who do business owners admire the most ?

2007-02-26T21:00:00.000+11:00

Some recent research that I read stated that the most admired are the straight shooters' that started with nothing, had a belief in what they were doing and maintained their standards even when they achieved success.

The most commonly mentioned business person we can all relate to is Richard Branson.

Most people I ask this question of usually name a friend or someone in their family. If you are the founder of a family business, how do you think the next generation will talk about you when you are gone?

Are you setting the standard for the future generations to maintain as the values and culture that will be the cornerstone of the family business for a long time to come ?

Bill Winter

Make sure your will is up to date

2007-02-25T16:37:00.000+11:00

The following is an small example from my new book 33 Essential Insights for Families in Business. I am lead to putting this chapter up as I came across another successful business last week and the two key partners ( Wife and husband ) do have a will.

The chapter is headed:

"Make sure that your will is relevant to the current situation"

I have seen many examples of business owners dying and then the remaining members fo the family finding out that there is no will or a will that was made many years ago that is no longer relevant to the size or complexities of the business at the time of death. Over the years families change, marriages fail, family memebrs run off the rails, some work in the business, others don't.

If you run a successful business then the next generation and the key management should alreday know what happens on the death of the founder. Seek legal advice to ensure that all angles are covered and that the business issues are lined up with the family issues.

The last posting I did is an expample of this.

Bill Winter

Private Company Partnership Agreements

2007-02-21T19:21:00.000+11:00

Every director, partner and or shareholders of private companies should read the article in today's press regarding Primo Meats.

I bet that the original founders could never have imagined the situation that is being played out in the courts today. As usual it has been initiated after the death of one of the partners and the divorce of the remaining business partner.

Without knowing all the details, I was attracted to the story by the AGE headline Divorce share battle eats at future of Coles supplier Primo Meats.

I would also suggest that main losers will be the business, its employees and the next generation of family members.

The battle in the family court should make every business partnership review their business and/or family constitution.

Bill Winter

We have had a break

2007-02-13T22:16:00.000+11:00

I am back into the daily, weekly and monthly tasks of life again.

My new 33 Essential Insights for Families in Business is about to be printed and another 33 book is nearly complete. This title is 33 Essential Business Insights for Doctors Running a Medical Practice. I plan to produce a least four more titles this year.

In the meantime I am committed to a business turnaround contract for a subsidiary of a large Australian Company. This business is very typical of many family owned business experiencing the problem of how to manage a strategy or the future. Turnover $16- 18 Million and 131 employees. However it is in an industry segment that is dominated by family owned businesses.

It will be an interesting case study as I detail the issues in over time in this blog.

Bill Winter

Chocolates or Boiled Lollies ?

2007-01-03T16:27:00.000+11:00

Welcome to 2007. The stock market continues on its merry way and the papers are all talking about the rights and wrongs of equity capital.

Many family business have ventured down the path of bringing in equity partners and many have been unable to work within the new structure and reporting processes that equity partners insist on. My experience is that those family members who chose to stay need to make enormous adjustments. It usually better to leave the business permanently and take your payment and or hope for future dividends.

This week the ABC featured the Lee family who owned Daryl Lee Chocolates. Well, did that program bust the myth of the perception of the ideal family business. If what we saw portrayed on the show was correct, then every older generation who are the typical family business control freak should watch it. In fact,it was my own father all over again. The end result is a split family where siblings and sons and daughters are enemies for life. The story showed the importance of succession planning, the need to have a family council and the need to have trusted advisors who are available to all family memebers. In this story these vital strategies very missing.

it is possible to exit members from a family business without making long lasting enemies. No family member should have an automatic right to a senior position in the business. However, this should be recognised and discussed at the point of entry and the rules of the game must be written down.

The Lee story is intersting in that the business seems to be thriving in spite of what we saw on the ABC program. Just maybe , the story was only half told.
Bill Winter

Coach or Mentor - What's it all about ?

2006-12-10T11:55:00.000+11:00

Again this week I saw an advertisment for yet another training program to become a business coach. I am beginning to think that the only ones making money out of coaching are those who are promoting training programs.

It is becoming too easy for people to complete a training program and then suddenly believing that they can transform themselves into trusted advisors to business exectutives or business owners etc.

In my time as dispute mediator, I have come across a situation where four individuals paid a lot of money to complete a coaching program and not one of them had secured any clients in eighteen months. They were looking to recover their initial money from the organisation which promoted the program. Unfortunate they did not read the fine print. Not one of these people had owned or operated a business of any kind before.

An effective coach is someone who is able to improve your skills and make you a more professional manager using specific business tools.

A mentor is someone who is able to bring their experince and knowledge to the fore and being able to challenge you on your thinking and thought process. A good mentor should be a catalyst for change. They should be interested in you as person first and listen more than they talk.

Mentoring has been around since Aristotle and remember " No one ever achieved real success working on their own". Families in business should look at mentoring to improve their business performance and to bring an outside perspective to the business.

Family Business Australia has established a mentors panel

You can only hope

2006-11-27T20:56:00.000+11:00

Tonight I watched a documentary on ABC TV called dynasties. Tonight's family story featured the Ansett family.

If you can get hold of a copy, probably from the ABC shop, watch it. Then hope like crazy that, in your family business, you never treat your children as Reg Ansett did.

Unfortunately I have come across a couple of owners of successful family business in recent times who remind me of Reg Ansett. They will get everything they deserve however their children will have lost a major part of their lives pandering to their father's whims.

Families in Business can be and should be a wonderful team effort with everone sharing in the success..

A Queensland success story

2006-11-26T19:06:00.000+11:00

I have just returned from Townsville where I was visting the North Qld branch of BMD. BMD is one of Queeensland's largest family owned companies. It was started in 1979 by Mike Power and they are specialists in civil engineering construction and design services.

On Friday night I attended the branch's Christmas drinks where there were 300 guests. The one thing that stood out was when company director David Duncan spoke he shared the company's growth and turnover figures and was forthright in telling those there that the goal was $1 Billion turnover. Current turnover was stated at $500 million.

In other words, they were prepared to be proud of their success and share it with staff, suppliers and clients.

Too often, owners are reluctant to share such information with their staff. Open communication is a part of BMD's culture. As their mission statement (which is in all their offices ) states, they maintain an environment that promotes teamwork, loyalty, trust and pride through strong leadership, communication and people development. In my contact with BMD , they certianly live up to their written mission statement. It not just a sign on a wall.

BMD is an example of a family business successfully making the transition through fast paced growth.

Is the family dynasty in decline?

2006-11-21T08:09:00.000+11:00

In last week's BRW magazine there is an article which suggests that business owners need to consider selling as a viable forward strategy as the next generation are not interested in taking on their parent's business.

The article concludes that a recent study, The MGI Family and Private Business survey 2006, published by RMIT reflects the pessimism about passing the business to the next generation comes form a perceived lack of ineterst from younger members of the family. In my experince, this is a direct result of the business founders failure to move their belief system and understand the ever changing management dynamics in the year 2006.

Much of the hype about generation X and Y is true when it highlights their different attitudes and aspirations. It's not that they don't want to take over the family business, it's that they don't want to operate under the same mamangement culture over the past. The Baby Boomers have to accept that their sons and daughters do not think the same and have been exposed to a far greater range of education and global experiences that they were.

I have often had to listen to owners of successful business telling how the next generation don't have the same work ethic, how they have everthing handed to them on a plate etc etc. What a load of rubbish. It's 2006, not 1975. I have seen many siblings working within a family business who would do a far better job of taking teh business to a higher level of performance, if only the "Old Man" would get out of the way.

I believe the BRW article missed the point. The researchers should get out from behind their desks and work with the next generation at the coal face and really understand the day to day issues. They are well educated, prepared to work hard but are more inclined to enjoy a better life balance than their parents and are smarter at managing people to engage them and to create effective teams.

The Nugan Family Business

2006-11-12T10:22:00.000+11:00

In this week's Boss Magazine ( Nov 2006 ) supplement within the Financial Review there is an excellent article on brother sister Matthew and Tifany Nugan. Here is a family business that looks like it is thriving with the next generation taking on important management roles and accountability.

The real success here is their mother. Obviously a very switched on business women who has taken the business to a higher a level of performance. She has a succession plan and understands the need to bring in outsiders to fill the key managemnt roles as the company expands and becomes more diverse.

I wish more business owners would realise that no one person has a mortgage on smart ideas and that you can never achieve real success working on your own.

FBA starts a mentors register

2006-11-01T20:34:00.000+11:00

Family Business Australia has announced that they have established a register of mentors for their members to chose from. The panel members are experienced family business mentors who have been deemed suitable by FBA to represent their members.
The FBA nor the mentors take any responsibilities for the accuracy of the advice or guidance given in association with this program.

Mentoring is a valuable support mechanism for families in business and its a great way to share in the hard-earned knowledge and experience and to have an independant sounding board.

The base fee suggested by the FBA is set at $150 per hour which is extremely generous when compared to the going rate in the general commercial world.

For more information regarding mentoring visit my web site at www.ceoadvisor.com.au or at www.billwinter.com.au

Theft in a Family Business

2006-10-17T15:07:00.000+10:00

There is a great article in today's Financial Review ( Oct 17th ) written by Mark Fenton-Jones.
It relates to theft by a family member in a family business. I have seen this first hand in my own business and it caused the company to fold and the two remaining partners lost many thousands of dollars. One of our partners, who was also our internal and external accountant, suddenly went missing and was found overseas and eventually died. The money was never recovered.

When a family owned enterprises is faced with this situation it can ruin the business or it can take months to recover. The fraud usually occurrs where there is lot of cash involved or where someone has control over the accounting system.

My experince in another family business is a lesson for everyone. I asked the owner of this business if he really trusted his bookkeeper. Trust her with my life was the answer. I had been called in to develop a business plan going forward. All the signs were there to cause me concern. However the owner of this family business got very angry with me when I questioned the honesty of the lady concerned. He would not accept my warning and I was given the short shift. Later he found that she had taken well over $400,000. No wonder his business had cash flow problems and he had to finance his debtors.

Family business must implement strong systems and processes and never assume that everyone will do the right thing. No matter your size, use external people to audit your accounts on a regular basis.

Finally, if a private business has a lot of cash sales and the owners are seen to be taking cash out that's an invitation for staff to do the same.

Bill Winter

Farms and families

2006-10-16T10:01:00.000+10:00

I spent the weekend in North East Victoria and the issue of farms and succession was raised in realtion to the next generation and, obviously, the drought and the longer term prospects for family farms.

I am starting to see an increasing theme of the older generation selling off sections of the property to fund their retiremnt and thereby reducing the inability of the next generation to work a sustainable holding for future income and wealth creation. In one example, 800 acres where sold to a blue gum tree investor. Now I can see that any other offer for more land to plant trees will very tempting. As this happens the overall carrying capacity is diminished and the son who is managemnt the farm will also have to consider his future.

The other issue is the tobacco farming community in the King Valley. The industry is closing down, much of the land is not suitable for other food crops due to chemicals used in the past and the economic loss is said to be $90 million to local area. What will happen to the next generation of the families who have been growing tobacco ?

The current drought will only compound the emotional and financial issues faced by many in rural areas.

Some will find an alternative and many other will give up in dispare. There are no easy answers and I feel the frustration when talking to farmers and even more so because I don't have any construction solutions to share.

And, remember that most rural businesses are family businesses.

Bill Winter

New Book on Insights for families In Business

2006-10-09T16:04:00.000+10:00

Only last week I finished final latest draft of my next title in my 33 Essential Insight pocket book series.

33 Essential Insights for Families in Business is a snapshot for business owners and the next generations to force dialogue within the family on where to take the business. I know that some founders will be reluctant to acknowledge the facts or be unwilling to accept change. Only the clever ones and those with foresight will take any notice of our insights.

In my youth I was the third in line of five children who were brought up living and working in a family business from the moment we could walk and talk. Our parents owned a hotel in country Victoria, a farm along the Murray river and finally a food and beverage manufacturing compnay in Geelong.

Business and family life were merged together and totally consumed our lives. Unfortunately the business no longer exists even though we have since all been involved in our own businesses in other market segments. Our father was an innovator and could read future trends like no one else I knew, however he could not bring himself to trust any of us and died with his boots on as they say at work.

If he had put just a few of the insights into practice that I have written about in the book, the business would have been able to continue on to great success after he died.

The key contents of this publication were reinforced recently when I attended the Family Business Australia Conference in Queensland and through my work with many successful family businesses in recent times.

Bill Winter

A common frustration for the next generation

2006-10-01T14:02:00.000+10:00

Talking to the son of a family business founder last week highlighted a problem I come across too often. It is also an issue that I do not have an easy answer for.
And, its a problem I faced in the late 1960's and early 1970's when working for my own father in his food maufacturing company.

What is the solution for the sons and daughters of family business owners who are what can simply be described as "Do it my way, or the highway " parents. I also believe that these older business owners are guilty of being past masters of winning the emotional blackmail game.

The tragedy to me is that the sons and daughters who work in this environment have sometimes left it too late to move elsewhere and are locked into an emotionally draining work experience.

Their health suffers, their marriage suffers and their children suffer.

In my experince the only way out is to leave. "This is easier said than done" is the response.

A good topic for my next posting

Family Business Australia Conference

2006-09-24T20:02:00.000+10:00

Two weeks ago I attended the national FBA conference in Queensland. Over the years I have attended many conferences both here and overseas and come away from the Family Buisness Australia conference with a renewed faith in the strength of family owned and operated business in Australia. It was a pleasure to meet and mix with such a large group who had one mission in mind,to share their knowledge and experiences.

There were some wonderful success stories shared from business of all sizes.

Hundred, and even thousands of business in Australia were started by baby boomers and many have reached a stage in their journey where they need to find suitable candidates to buy their business. For many the business is their superannuation.

This presents many interesting opportunities and/or potential problems. Where will the buyers come from and is the business is a fit state to be sold for maximum return?

If you are the owner or Family CEO of a sucessful business I suggest that you join Family Business Australia and start attending the many informative sessions they run every month.

Its always a delight to work with a family business who have been able to set in place the disciplines and processes needed to continue to operate on a professional basis for the next generations that address both the business and family needs.

Bill Winter

Australian work choices legislation

2006-04-04T19:52:00.000+10:00

We are a week into the new work choices system and confustion reigns supreme. My advice is for small business operators ( That is any company with less than 100 employees ) to wait for three months or so and then consult a legal firm which has a solid industrial relations department before making any changes within their business.

I have been to four presentations by legal firms in the last two months and it is clear that there is much to digest.

I believe that there are positives for business owners who approach the issue with a mindset of win /win for the business and the employees.

Be careful not to start putting people off just becuase you can. It must be lawful.

Skilled and motivated labour is in short supply, so think before you leap.

Bill Winter

Share in my journey

2006-04-03T07:30:00.000+10:00

The purpose of this blog is to share the experiences I have encountered in a thirty year roller coaster ride in both privately owned and large corporate enterprises.

Currently I specialise in turning around poor performing subsidiaries of large corporates. This is supplented by mentoring partners in successful private companies where I can bring to the discusssion an independant point of view and the discipline needed to take the business to a higher level of performance.

Ther are two web sites for a point of reference: www.ceoadvisor.com.au and www.billwinter.com.au

Feel free to contact me at any time - billwinter@bigpond.com.au