KRS 2014 - Panel Discussion on family run businesses

Panel discussion: Professional Outlook in the Family Run Retail Business

T.Shantakumar, MD, Kirtilals

M. Banumathi, Head Naidu Hall, Kovai

Gnanasekar Kandaswamy, MD,

Pazhamudhir Nilayam

Amar Subash, GM Security, Commercial & Retail Biz, Tyco India

Moderator: Sanjay Badhe, Consultant, Retail

and Marketing

Do family run businesses need professionals?

• Businesses need professionals to scale.• Professionals bring in discipline, process and systems. • The entrepreneur, though, brings in a level of customer

connect that the Professional cannot. • The challenge is to get the professional aligned to

family culture and business values. • We do several informal meets, lunches with senior

professionals when they join. Our purpose is to empower each Store Manager so that they can engage and connect with the customer, the same way that the entrepreneur can.

Both family members and professionals go through a period of adjustment when professionals join the business.


Moderator: Sanjay Badhe, Consultant, Retail and Marketing

• Take conflicts offline – for one to one personal discussions with both, family members and the professionals.

• Once the decision is made – then both have to align with the decision, even if they don’t agree.

• We are clear, that professionals who cannot align with the family values and the business culture – cannot continue with us.

• We use the period of the first 90 days on the job, to gauge that alignment.

When new family members enter the business, we are careful to mentor both them and the professionals already in the business.


How do you solve conflicts?


How do family businesses attract good professionals

You have to attract good people – not just at senior levels, but especially at the front end. • Family businesses provide an environment which is an

‘extension’ of the home environment.• For us, our sales men and saleswomen are our “Heroes”, and

– like in the movies, we want them to be visible to the customers (audience) not us – the ‘directors’ and ‘producers’.

• We recruit for attitude not qualification or experience. We also ensure that we take on and solve their problems, so that they are free to do what they do best which is sell. (example – savings schemes)

• We encourage them to develop confidence, by getting them mentored by senior sales staff. Our staff calls seniors as “Amma / Appa / Akka / Anna” – a mark of the depth of relationship.

Family owned retail stores provide high emotional connect to professionals – that’s why they stay.



• Our sales staff help us keep our pulse on the market. They tell us what customers want – and purchase managers do regular monthly meetings to make sure that our range / merchandise reflect that local know-how.

• We have found, that customers in different towns (from Coimbatore to Madurai )have different tastes. By formally recording customer needs via salespeople, we find that our business is better, and inventory lower.

“Word of mouth” is the best advertisement


How do family businesses attract good people


• Most entrepreneurs think that professionalism is about appointing a CEO – this is not true.

• A company is professional when it has proper systems and structures to run day to day operations without interference of the entrepreneur.

• The entrepreneur should focus on “directionalizing” and setting targets.

• We do not differentiate between professionals and family members.

• Both have to take the consequences of their decisions – good and bad.

Make sure that you treat family members and professionals fairly and equally.


How do family businesses retain professionals?


Pazhamudhir Nilayam

How do you stop yourself from not interfering with the professionals?

• Once you have delegated authority to a professional – then you have to give him the space to perform.

• If you interfere and micro-manage he will not perform. • At the same time, the customer needs you – so you

still need to be available to the customer.• Other than that – you walk away – decisions regarding

the stores has to be done by the manager dedicated for that.

• If you have to override the manager in front of the customer, then after the incident, you go back and motivate the manager so he does not lose heart (or face).

Empower the professional and then “walk away” – let him do his job.



• If you are thinking about professionalizing – do not lose the core values - essence of the brand.(in the mind of consumer)

• We have “centralized” the core values by a monthly review process – we focus on targets and the support needed to achieve the targets.

• This ensures that our presence is not needed – and that gives the professional the space to perform.

Identify your core values, centralize and control only those. Leave the rest to the professionals.



Pazhamudhir Nilayam

How do you stop yourself from not interfering with the professionals?

How do family owned business score when it comes to adopting technology?

• The key is accessing the entrepreneur and getting enough time from him to demonstrate value.

• Once you demonstrate value, then technology adoption and rollout is much faster among family owned businesses than among modern retailers where decision makers span multiple levels in the hierarchy.

• Once you have built credibility – they are also far more open in terms of looking at technology to solve strategic issues . More importantly, willingness to be transparent about the issues is much higher.

Family owned retailers are profitable. They do not therefore view technology as a cost – they see it as an investment.


Amar Subash, GM Security, Commercial & Retail Biz, Tyco India

Panel discussion: Professional Outlook in the Family Run Retail Business

KRS 2014 - Panel Discussion on family run businesses

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Transcript of KRS 2014 - Panel Discussion on family run businesses