Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Your 'familiness' has brand advantage


Michael N. McGrann
Executive Director, High Center
by Michael N. McGrann, Executive Director,
S. Dale High Center for Family Business


Following our final breakfast seminar of the 2010-11 series (which included a case study of rebranding by Center member Stauffers of Kissel Hill), one of the attendees asked, "Should we be upfront and out front with customers that we are a family business?"

Without knowing anything about your particular family business brand, I would say yes, that you should be promoting the fact that you are a family business. Why? Because your customers care deeply that you are a family business. Many Fortune 500 companies market the fact that are family business. At the end of each add from Johnson Wax we hear the announcer say: “S.C. Johnson, a family company.” Ford Motor Company, Enterprise Car Rental, and local food manufacturer Dietz and Watson are but a few of the companies who market their “familiness” for good reason: research shows that consumers are more loyal to brands they know to be owned by family businesses.

So if consumers are happier buying from family businesses, why not let them know about your commitment to them and to your business? Let them know that your family stands behind your product and that they are sharing in your family’s heritage and tradition of great products and services. Consumers are hungry for the stability, the honesty, the commitment inherent in purchasing from a family business.

In addition, when you market, or even brand, your “familiness” you are distinguishing your product from your competition in a way that is truly unique. In doing so, you create the potential for a competitive advantage because you have something (your family name… which creates loyalty) that can never be copied.

One of my favorite examples of marketing your “familiness” can be seen in this advertisement for Columbia Sportswear. As you watch the video, ask yourself, what are they really selling?



While it is also true that your familiness can constrain your family business, if you haven't identified your resources and capabilities that sets your family business apart from other businesses, you haven't tapped into a critical resource for competitive advantage.

Mike's bottom line: For a host of reasons, you should not only be up front about being a family business, you should embrace being a family business.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Legal issues impacting family businesses

John Reed, a longtime volunteer for the High Center and attorney at Corporate Partner at Barley Snyder, LLC, has a new blog at Fig Magazine. Here's John's post, reprinted with permission:

Welcome to my blog on legal issues impacting small businesses. I need a nifty name for the blog and as lawyers are not known for their artistic creativity, I’m up for suggestions.

If you want to read a little about my background, you can check that out at http://www.barley.com/.

My practice is a general business practice split into two areas – counseling family and closely held businesses and mergers and acquisitions. Regarding my counseling family and closely held businesses, I work with very small and very large family and closely held businesses and really act as a virtual in-house attorney for these businesses. Small and family held businesses are really the backbone of the U.S. economy both from an employment perspective and revenue generating perspective. Small and family owned businesses have some of the same problems, risks and challenges that large corporations have and also have some unique challenges arising from their size and ownership structure. One common theme I hear from my clients is that they often feel isolated as they don’t have a large staff to rely on or may not have a strong group of outside advisors to help guide them.

In this blog, my attempt will be to cover topics on which I have received questions from clients or issues with which I have seen small and family owned businesses struggle. Some of these subjects will include:
  • Should I use some type of entity to run my business or am I safe operating it as a sole proprietorship? 
  • What types of business entitites are available and what are the differences (limited liability company, S corporation, C corporation, general partnership.etc.)
  • How to build relationships with a group of outside advisors 
  • Should I have a board of directors or board of advisors? 
  • Employee issues, such as, non-competes and non-solicitation issues, concepts to retain good employees, etc.
I’m also certainly open to answering questions from you, so please let me know if you have them.

Finally, I am a novice at this blogging concept, and, as I said, lawyers are not known for their creativity (or ability to write in plain English). So, please bear with me and let me know of any suggestions you have to make this a more effective (and fun) blog.

Disclaimer
This Blog Site is made available by the lawyer or law firm publisher for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and the Blog/Web Site publisher. The Blog/Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Some good economic news because of family businesses

American family businesses expect to hire in 2011 says the Family Business Institute. Read all about the importance of family businesses to the US economy at this post. See the related article on PR Newswire here.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Stauffers of Kissel Hill rebranding a triumph (and for good reason)

by Gale Martin, Director of Marketing and Development, S. Dale High Center for Family Business at Elizabethtown College

Last week, one of our Center members, Stauffers of Kissel Hill, detailed their rebranding process at a Breakfast Seminar, an event at the heart of our programming for members, and the last of the 2010-11 series.

Just prior to Stauffers sharing their case, brand expert Kae G. Wagner, president of North Star Marketing, shared the following slide, the Adizes Organizational Lifecycle:

During the case study presented by Stauffers' principals, COO Jere Stauffer and Marketing and Branding Director Debi Drescher, marked their own status on the Lifecycle graph Kae presented as somewhere between "recrimination" and "entrenched bureaucracy."

Stauffers of Kissel Hill's humble origins
as a roadside stand
Following a site visit and no-holds-barred critique from a peer group within the garden center industry, the Stauffers' ownership team knew they needed to change and that they needed to put a plan in place to accommodate wholesale change.

For a family owned and operated business to admit that strategic improvements were necessary to remain competitive is a feat in itself. One reason family businesses succeed against daunting odds is the deep pride owners take in the business. Such extreme pride can make it hard for family business leaders to hear any criticism--period.


Their customer- and quality-focus were hampered
by an outdated look. (Before rebranding)
Eight years ago, Stauffers launched a branding campaign that succeeded, owing to strong personal values that informed their corporate values, a desire to put the health of the business ahead of personal agendas, and sheer pluck and determination.

Listening to and processing feedback

Jere Stauffer mentioned that industry peers gave the ownership team pages and pages of criticisms to chew on. Both the ownership group and the executive management team put their own fears of being criticized aside, which allowed them to really hear the recommendations made, take them into account, see patterns in the various critiques, and emerge with a prioritized list. That's no easy task, listening to critical feedback about the business that you parents or grandparents founded, a business in which most of these folks grew up.

Working toward consensus and a common goal

While everyone charged with rebranding Stauffers of Kissel Hill had their own ideas and opinions about what the new brand should look and feel like, eventually consensus had to be reached to allow the company to move forward. For some, that meant their favorite design or brand tenet wasn't selected. With so many stakeholders involved and no single stakeholder possessing the equivalent of the line-item veto, it is worth repeating that gaining consensus was no easy task. More than one family business has been thwarted at this stage because individual egos loomed larger than the overarching desire to see the family business succeed. Ultimately, Stauffers' stakeholders kept the bigger picture in focus, subordinating personal agendas.

Perseverance


A display from the newly rebranded garden center
 Across eight locations in Central Pennsylvania, reaching hundreds of employees at every operational level, spanning five years and counting, including the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Stauffers of Kissel Hill demonstrated the perseverance necessary to successfully roll out a new brand.

"Everybody was on board," Mike McGrann, executive director of the High Center said. "This allowed them to be truly systematic in their roll out, across all aspects of their business. Every manager and every employee was made part of their rebranding."


The new Stauffers of Kissel Hill Rohrerstown store!
In rebranding themselves, Stauffers of Kissel Hill engaged in an awe-inspiring process that other family businesses can learn from and realized jaw-dropping results.

Congratulations, Stauffers of Kissel Hill, and best wishes for continued success!

For more information about Kae G. Wagner's brand presentation, see this post by Scott Heintzelman, the Exuberant Accountant.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Best fam biz links of the week: A roundup!

Each day, the High Center for Family Business avails itself of trendy technology by publishing an online broadsheet called The Family-Business Daily. This publication is an attractively aggregated collection of links to content pulled from selected organizations we follow on Twitter such as Inc. Magazine, Fortune Magazine, New York Times Small Business, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, and others.

Since I preview the broadsheet daily, as a new weekly feature on "High Ground," I'll be culling the best links for family business owners/leaders/managers as a round-up here. Articles definitely worth your time include the following:
Happy and worthwhile reading, everyone!

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