What do you imagine when a business consultant gets to sit with a retired firefighter? You can imagine lots of fiery conversations, right?
Well, during the weekend, we had an amazing guest at the Premier Edge Podcast and he shared a lot of valuable information that I’ll take you through shortly.
Bryan Burford is an appliance technician who’s also a retired firefighter, which means he understands the best and worst of both worlds. He knows and understands what could trigger a fire from home appliances, and also understands safety precautions and methods for putting out fire. So, quite a lot to learn, yeah? Let’s get into it.
While speaking with James, Bryan shared quite a lot about his experience as a business owner, and one of the things that particularly stood out to me was the story behind his business.
Because sometimes, when we talk about family businesses, people make faces and sounds that suggest it’s a dreadful topic. The negative PR around family owned businesses has almost made it a theoretical concept never to be explored practically. However Bryan’s story tells us that family businesses can actually work.
Bryan’s business journey is an interesting one because the business wasn’t originally started by him.
His son started the business, but unfortunately, he passed away. Bryan then took over the business, and today, he is running it alongside his other son.
Think about that for a moment; a business that started with one family member eventually became something that another family member stepped into, and now another generation is involved in keeping it going. That’s such a beautiful thing!
This whole conversation got me thinking about how family businesses could actually survive generations if the right structures were put in place. It is possible to work with your siblings, children, spouse or other relatives, and pass the business to the next generation if the right system is in place
If it must work, structure must not be overlooked, because family is not a substitute for structure. In fact, if anything, family businesses need structure even more.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when running a family business is assuming that because everyone knows and trusts each other, everything will work itself out. You hear things like. “We’re family, we understand ourselves.” Well, until you don’t.
Money gets into the picture, people get bored or change their minds, someone begins to feel like they deserve more ownership because they put in more work, and in 3, 2, 1, unprecedented chaos erupts.
The right structures in place prevents the chaos that can come up from such situations. Structures such as proper documentation of things like:
- The Business registration
- Ownership of the business
- Job descriptions and we’ll defined roles
- Proper financial records
- Agreements
- Terms and conditions
- Succession plan etc.
Bryan’s story is a good reminder that businesses can outlive their founders, but that transition becomes much easier when the business has a proper structure that can support it.
The second lesson I would like to point out is the issue of maintenance.
Most times, we think of maintenance as an unnecessary expense; why repair something that has shown no sign of breakdown or fault. We have no problem calling a technician when the AC goes bad or when the washing machine stops working. However, calling a technician for maintenance purposes seems like a waste of money.
For business owners who have physical spaces and make use of appliances, this applies particularly to you. You don’t have to wait until a machine breaks down before maintaining it for optimal performance.
Ignoring them because they’re “still working” may save you money today, but it could cost you considerably more tomorrow, because a small maintenance issue can become a major repair which can lead to the damage of the machine leading to operational delay and financial cost.
So, don’t wait for an appliance to stop working. Create a maintenance schedule and work with it. This will protect you from dealing with lost operational time, unhappy clients, damaged property, fire incidents or something much worse.
This brings us to the end of today’s read, and again reminds us that when we set out to building businesses, it’s always important to remember that there is a purpose bigger than us all, and that purpose can be as ‘simple’ as legacy.
So, whether you’re running a family business, managing properties or building a company from scratch, the lessons shared here are worth paying attention to.
If you’re yet to watch this conversation, click on this link and enjoy the ride.
Remember to share this link with other business owners and apply the lessons that stood out to you!