Building Cohesion in Multi-Generational Family Business. Arnaud de Coninck

Transcription

1 Building Cohesion in Multi-Generational Family Business Arnaud de Coninck

2 Introduction From Belgium Graduated from Boston University 6 th generation member of Belgian family behind Solvay 2

3 Agenda My family background Family entrepreneurial journey TrustedFamily Q&A

4 My family background

5 Our challenges 1. How to communicate effectively? 2. How to take decisions & work together? 3. How to keep family members interested and stay together? 4. How to organize our documents and archive? 5. How to maintain our database up to date? 6. How to know who s who in the family and identify high-potentials?

6 Building a family strategy versus a business strategy The more a family grows, the more it s important to develop a strategy for the family. Businesses typically make 3 to 5 year business plans. Families think in generations so they should be planning over years, but not a lot of families actually do that. Whenever a new generation comes in, they should develop their own family strategic plan and vision. 6

7 Rethink yourself at every generation Each generation should develop & review the family strategic plan Who are we? Why are we together? Where are we today? Where do we want to be in 20 years and why? What do we want to achieve together? How will we get there? How do we know once we are there? 7

8 How to be successful in the long run? It s not only about passing on the business from one generation to another... It s about passing on the entrepreneurial spirit!

9 How to keep the family together? Build an emotional attachment Regular communication and updates Annual golf & tennis competition Bi-annual company presentations Factory visits Next gen education programme Internship programme Build a financial attachment Conservative dividend policy Long term capital & dividend growth for future generations Clear exit strategy

10 Family entrepreneurial journey

11 TrustedFamily Mission TrustedFamily is based on the belief that families can create greater financial as well as non-financial value through increased cohesion between their members. Our goal is to help families go beyond merely staying together, and to enable them to systematically identify and leverage their unique family assets. 11

12 The universal challenges of family businesses As business families go from one generation to another: Family gets bigger Family spreads out geographically Fewer family members are actively involved/engaged or interested Next generation has diverse backgrounds and expectations Ownerships stakes will vary Result: managing the family becomes complex! 12

13 Breaking the myth about long term family success Only 10% of business families make it to the third generation. Research has shown that: in 60% of the cases this is due to bad communication and mistrust between family members in 25% of the cases it's due to a lack of education of the next generation. Most families invest heavily in the management of their businesses and their assets, but often forget to invest in the family. 13

14 Our services The TrustedFamily Platform A secure communication and collaboration platform for family members, shareholders, family office staff and advisors Platform-related advisory services Technology advisory for communication and online education Technology advisory for document management and archiving Security training and advisory The Library An online resource center of valuable family business and family office resources 14

15 Stakeholder Board member / Family council member Key benefits Key benefits Minutes of meetings Board calendar Shareholder / Beneficiary Annual reports & financial statements Shareholder calendar Personal vault with reports, documents, centralized Shareholder education materials Business updates, press releases and media monitoring Family member Family calendar Family photos & videos Family address-book Family news, updates and gossip Family tree and history Family Education materials FO Leadership FO Relationship Team Shareholder relations Team Easy database management of family member data Easy event management Detailed metrics on engagement Gather feedback through surveys Send mass updates through newsletters Share media and large files in an easy way Secure communication with family Archive and history of all interactions Time saved as family members can access data directly IT Team / Security Team Easier monitoring of family member behavior Better control of information, documents and access rights Full service solution Platform* 15

16 TrustedFamily today 90 + clients 24 countries 5 continents $ 400 bn combined assets users Brussels New York Seattle Singapore 20 members in a global team $ 2 million equity capital

17 Our ideal client At least 10 family members or staff members above 18 years old. 25m$ in shared assets or more. A family member or staff member who can be the internal champion. 17

18 For any questions, contact me Reach TrustedFamily Arnaud de Coninck