family run business

Leading a business is hard. Leading Family Business is even harder as one has to work with familial ties and legacy.  That said, our guest on this episode had a completely different experience as the family business was handed over to him.  

Meet Mr. Jaber Abdul Wahab, the group CEO of Bridgeway Group. Bridgeway Group is a transnational conglomerate operating in multitude industries. One may think that when you come from a business family, you naturally grow skills to learn how to run a business. In Jaber's case that was not true. 

Surbhi Dedhia, host of #TMTLPodcast, had a meaningful conversation with Jaber as he shares:

• Why he defines himself as one and a half generation of family run business and not the second generation leadership?
• In the early days of taking over the business, when the decision literally meant identifying sharks and dolphins and then choosing to swim in the ocean accordingly.
• How he used his learning from Engineering to adapt and learn on the go.
• The challenges of growing a legacy business, expanding into new sectors and securing profitability.
• Pivots during the pandemic and the testing time for his leadership.
• What is his role as a leader to drive the brand Bridgeway within different companies.
• How he is building his own thought leadership internally and externally.
• Lastly, his message to all the budding entrepreneurs.

This episode is power-packed and covers vast array of topics. 

Jaber's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaber-abdul-wahab-75572721/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaberpv
Bridgeway Group: http://bridgewaygroup.com/

Thank you for listening!

You can connect with the host - Surbhi Dedhia - on LinkedIn to share ideas and thoughts on building your #thoughtleadership

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Here is the article that inspired this cast

Mortality Retirement and Family Business

An important entrepreneurial book

The E-Myth Revisited

I referenced Edwards Deming in the cast and one of his 14 points of quality. If you want to read more check this book out

Out of The Crisis

As always i invite you to join my mailing list at Developing Leaders Inc, where you will not only receive a free copy of my ebook on delegation but you will also get a free leadership course.

Finally we are creating a community of leaders eager to learn and grow. To join us click this link and join us at Mentoring Leaders

I invite you to join my mailing list at Developing Leaders Inc, where you will not only receive a free copy of my ebook on delegation but you will also get a free leadership course.

Finally we are creating a community of leaders eager to learn and grow. To join us click this link and join us at Mentoring Leaders

They could have bought a McDonald's in 1976, but his dad and his brother chose to get into granola instead. Fast forward, Randy Sihota is still in the family business. He talks about the ups and downs of being in a family business, what it's like to figure out how to be independent yet connected to the family. 

Find Randy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randy-sihota-04593444/

Find Nationwide Natural Foods: https://nationwidenaturalfoods.com/

This episode is sponsored by Field Agent Canada.
Check them out at: fieldagentcanada.com/360   or 

email  client@ca.fieldagent.net

This episode is all about family-run breweries.

Jen starts us off by discussing what led her to opening a family-run brewery, what her family was up to before MacLeod opened, and how she’s avoided nepotism.

Then we bring in our guest for this episode, Brian Avery from Brävery Brewing Company out of Lancaster, California.

Brian tells us what motivated him and his family to start a brewery, what forming a business plan with his father was like, and the process of adding a food kitchen.

Enjoy!

Links Mentioned:

Brävery Brewing Company

MacLeod Ale

90% of businesses are family owned. Navigating the details of business gets exponentially more difficult when you add your family to the middle of it. If you’ve ever struggled with how to run and grow a family run business, StoryBrand Guide Alex Schauer has some great advice for you. On this episode of the ROI Online Podcast, she talks with Steve about her experience working for her family’s business and becoming a StoryBrand Guide to help others market theirs. 

Alex's background is in family business manufacturing from working for the family business she married into. She learned quickly that being part of the family meant working for the business, even if you don’t quite have the necessary skills like was her case with marketing. 

That led her to StoryBrand, which was a challenge for the business to implement for two reasons: 1) everyone in the company was used to sharing their message around her father-in-law who started the business and 2) they had to pare down the number of products they featured on their website. Alex and the company quickly realized that it was more important to feature the customer in their story and to focus on only one products.

What they found, was that clarifying their message and focusing on the feature product helped them increase their online revenue 417%. The company’s new message? “Do you know those pretreating coat hooks that stick out at eye level when you go through schools? Those are really dangerous for kids when they're hung at eye level. So we have a flat profile coat hook that makes school safer.”

It directly speaks to what their customers are looking for. 

Other challenges that came up for Alex were typical of family businesses everywhere. How did they keep important conversations from happening on Easter? How do they communicate with one another without making assumptions? What happened when management needed to transition? 

Most of their struggles were answered by focusing on the customer first. Difficult conversations about percentages and roles were manageable when focused more on who they were helping.  

Alex herself then became a StoryBrand Guide to help other companies clarify their messaging. She has helped over 100 companies and counting and enjoys working with family owned businesses to navigate the unique challenges only they have to deal with.  

Her best advice for other business owners is to hire a guide to help you implement your own StoryBrand—even if it’s not her. Creating her own StoryBrand for their company took three months of agony because they were so close to their own message. That outside perspective is huge and can save you tons of time and heartache. 

You can learn more about Alex here:

https://schauerco.com 

Read the books mentioned on this episode:

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Building a StoryBrand  by Donald Miller
Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself by Mike Michalowicz

Get your copy Steve Brown’s book, The Golden Toilet. Also available on Audible for free when you sign up for a 30-Day Trial Membership!


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