IS IT ALWAYS BENEFICIAL TO BE KNOWN AS A FAMILY BUSINESS?

Neil

Grundon

In the late 1980s and 1990s there was a move to become more corporate, so we went with the fl ow. Our strapline, like so many others then, was fairly bland: “Caring about tomorrow today,” But my cousin, who worked with me at the time, said it sounded more like a condom advert.

Today, it’s different. We are happy to be a family business, it’s a part of who we are – and actually always has been.

Anna Herbert

In our sector of food and drink, now is totally the time to be called a family business. While we are a new generation with new ideas, we are still a family business, and that’s important.

Peter Williamson

It’s important for us too, but you do have to be careful to take into account the views of different generations and be clear about who is making the decisions.

Peter Bell

Keeping the core of our family business is very important. But it is a double-edged sword. Your clients believe and trust in you, but they will often have your mobile phone number, so they can call at any time.

Paul Bence

People trust us because they know we’re independent and family run. Customers can pick up the phone and talk to us directly anytime. This does open us up at times, but in our sector we are competing with national chains, so personal contact with our customers gives us the opportunity to compete on pricing and provide a higher level of service. With this, most of our customers ‘want’ to deal with us, even if we are more expensive on some items as across the broad spectrum of products we will be more cost-effective.

Michael

Carter

For us it’s not really to do with being a family business. It’s to do with scale. We have not chased turnover or increased the size of our business, preferring to remain masters of our own destiny and I can’t think of a single reason why we wouldn’t promote ourselves as a family business. We can’t compete with the larger entities, but sometimes customers don’t want to work with the bigger companies for the reasons that Peter and Paul outline, because you lose the family, the personal service.

Alex Rose

Our relationships with customers are stronger because we are a family business, but we compete with companies with multiple stores and deep inventories, which have every option in every brand somewhere in their network. If we don’t compete with that as a smaller family business, then we run the risk of not being able to provide clients with the choice they need.

To a certain extent our level of service, and flexibility counteracts it. That’s where the family business has strength.

You can’t win every customer by promoting yourself as a family business – customers want a slick retail offer, such as John Lewis offers online. The unique experience and the corporate experience both have a place.

Where family businesses must step up is to be as good, if not better, than customers expect for a hassle-free automated system when speed and efficiency is what they seek from a retail offer.

Anna Herbert

I agree. An earlier version of our website had a lot of information on our family heritage on the front page. But people are used to the Amazon model and want to buy as quickly and easily as possible. So, while our family story is on there, our front page is product led. And then it’s about people having the quickest and best buying experience.

Tom Lister

We provide the customer service that the big corporates, such as BT can’t always provide. Our family business started as agricultural contractors in Dursley in the 1860s. When we set up Lister Communications, we wanted to incorporate our original family values. Most people know that we are honest and straightforward because we are active in the community, and that feeling is reciprocal. I know that another family business won’t rip me off because I’ll probably see them at a Gloucester rugby match.

Chris Creed

The culture of a family business is important, but sometimes it needs to change with the times. As Alex said, we also have to present a more corporate face if that is what is needed to meet a customer’s expectations.

Kevin Pope

My brother and I started ProTrack around 10 years ago and I agree with Tom, it’s not just about family, it’s also about local. We are in telematics, as are many other businesses, but people often want to deal with local people and that is where we have an edge. We feel the same

ROUND TABLE: FAMILY BUSINESSES

about buying from local businesses, as well as selling to them.

Matt Cleevely

We’ve seen that recently. Tesla moved their whole service support on to their app. If you are a Tesla customer with a problem, you now have to report it online and someone might come back to you, or you might have to wait. We have had so many customers call us over the last couple of months call to talk to us because they can no longer talk to Tesla.

Moreton Cullimore

The gravel and quarry industry is full of multi-nationals, and for smaller businesses such as ours, it’s difficult to build an identity in that competition. Being a family business helps because we can imbue a real culture of services and respect in our employees.