Naomi Bulger meets some inspiring Australian business owners and discovers the benefits of keeping it in the family.
Families dominate commerce.
Since the dawn of trade,
the family business model has been the oldest and most popular in the
world. In fact, until quite recently family businesses were the only
kinds of businesses – the term ‘family business’ is a modern
distinction.
Philippa Taylor, CEO of peak body Family Business
Australia, says a business run by a team of family members is both more
resilient and more likely to succeed than any other kind of company: “A
family working together has passion, they share a long-term goal, and
they are able to make quick decisions and respond proactively to market
forces”.
Indeed, family businesses outperform their publicly
owned counterparts with higher returns on investment, better profit
margins, more stable earnings and better cash flow and earnings per
employee, according to research from the Australian Centre for Family
Business (ACFB)
at Bond University in Queensland.
“Family businesses transcend all of the size
categories, from the largest firms to the smallest firms,” says
Professor Ken Moores, director of the ACFB. “The Packers, Linfox,
Newscorp and VisiCorp: all significant family firms, both public and
private, in Australia. And, of course, when you take it to the world
stage, you’re talking about Walmart, Ford, BMW, Samsung… all of those
are family-controlled companies.”
Case study 1: From potatoes to paradise: Pinetrees Lodge
Case study 2: Like father like son: Hire One
Case study 3: A good vintage: Brown Brothers