My father in law has run a pretty successful business but is very old school. He has done no advertising or marketing of the business and has used relationships and word of mouth to date getting him deals with Lexus, Fender and Music Man. It's a small business in the middle of no where with big opportunity. The whole operation needs a makeover and I have no idea where to start! How do we grow and get new/more business? I'll be in charge of sales and marketing. Sort of lost. Help!
Find someone in that industry and give them a path to partnership. If you want DIY training for online marketing, you can try MarketMotive (nationwide business marketing) or CompeteLeap (local business marketing) or Lynda (random assortments of tech training). If you want to discuss your business specifics, let's chat on Clarity - send me a message about the type of business you're in so I can let you know if I can help or not.
I've worked with a number of family businesses, and a real key for you is to work with reputable executive coach who specializes in family business. These people can be exceptional guides throughout your transition and the investment is well worth it. Connect with me directly if you'd like any referrals.
Start with your father-in-law and make sure he introduces you to all the people he deals with so they understand you will be taking over. The transition phase. This means being CCed on emails and such. If he does not use email then making sure you are on conference calls with whoever he deals with.
Before you go and try to change anything make sure you have a good handle of the business. Understand how the business is currently run.
Once you understand how the business is run. Start talking to employees about what can be improved. What are the pain points?
Not knowing what your business does makes it a bit difficult to provide more suggestions. If you want to chat feel free to reach out.
Listen, think smart. Focus in keeping the business successful while getting your products online. I wrote a couple of books on the subject and I have built a few large businesses. It doesn't matter what you are selling, business is basically business.
Don't stop taking massive action.
Best of Luck,
Michael T. Irvin
michaelirvin.net
My books are available exclusively through Amazon Books. Check out my book "Copywriting Blackbook of Secrets"
Copywriting, Startups, Internet Entrepreneur, Online Marketing, Making Money
Taking over the family business keep the following facts in mind:
1. Decide What You Want to Do
Get clear about your personal and professional goals. What do you want to do with your career? Will running the family business make you happy? Are you prepared to buy your parents out? How will your mom or dad handle the transition? Do they respect you enough to really let you run it? Will they support your leadership? Make sure you really want the job before you take it.
2. Get Ready to Not Know Everything
Even though you may have grown up in and around the family business, you likely still need to brush up on specific operational functions. You might be able to leverage your professional education to grow and expand the business, but the most important thing to do is embrace the business culture. Define the business objectives and goals with care and make sure that you are keeping the business relevant and generating the revenue the business needs. You must know what each of the employees is good at and help them grow. To avoid becoming a statistic, shadow as many key employees as possible to gain insight into your company’s workflows. By meeting with staff and involving them in the transition, instead of maintaining business as usual, you may be able to refine their workflows as well as identify untapped staff with skills that can provide the business with more value in a different department. Build rapport and empathy for your employees. You are the new generation, and you must earn respect before making major changes to improve the business.
3. Maintain the Company Culture
The most fundamental value of any business culture is that everyone feels like they are a part of something bigger. In addition to offering generous benefits, it is crucial to have frequent and open communication with staff. Even if you cannot be everywhere at once, leverage technology to communicate with staff. Do not let the rumour mill take over in your business.
4. Mastering the Hand-Off
It is not always easy but having honest conversations earlier on prevents damage to your business. Successions are not only a great way to enhance your organizational structure, but also an opportunity to evaluate the business model and pursue new target growth in areas that may not have been apparent to the previous leadership.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
