In Ireland, there are more than 160,000 family businesses employing 938,000 people, generating around 50 per cent of the nation’s wealth.
These companies are particularly important in keeping local economies alive. Many of them service and support the multinational corporations, which are so critical to Ireland’s position as a leading economy within the EU. Without the bedrock of family businesses, the Irish economy simply could not function.
Among those who believe in this widely held view is John McGrane, executive director, Family Business Network – the organisation for experiential learning, mutual support and advocacy for and on behalf of Irish families in business.
“Family businesses make up the largest single group of employers in the country,” says McGrane. “And importantly, they’re not just in the big cities like most of the Foreign Direct Investment companies are, but in every town and constituency. Crucially, they give back in a way that foreign companies are never in a position to do.”
He points out that it surprises some people – many of them politicians – when they learn that Ireland’s family-owned businesses employ more than twice the amount of people working in the aggregate of both our foreign owned sector and the public service combined.
“With 170,000 businesses providing valuable jobs for a million workers in every constituency of the country, they’re so obvious in every town that we nearly take them for granted. They’re the people who make your porridge, the people who run your local hotel and the people who service your car or fill your fuel tank.
“They’re the people who sponsor your local sports and who pay the commercial rates that fund your local council services. And they’re the people who pay more wages than anybody else in the economy, to be spent in your local community’s shops and sustain your local circular economy and who send off the taxes on jobs to fund the government for you,” he adds.
When the FBN talk with politicians, they remind them that our homegrown employers should be getting the same national support as we give foreign-owned businesses, McGrane stresses.
“For the past 40 years, Ireland has applied a highly successful national strategy to attract foreign firms. The same well-resourced strategic focus is now needed for our local employers to secure a balanced economy and a thriving community throughout the country.”
A simple start would be to join the dots between the numerous vital agencies from Enterprise Ireland all the way to local community enterprise boards, he suggests.
“Another simple but important step would be to modernise the Labour Employer Economic Forum which no longer represents the vast majority of jobs throughout Ireland, making it too difficult for the government to really hear from the businesses who employ most workers.”
FBN Ireland is a part of an international forum with over 10,000 members from over 3,700 family companies, organised in 29 national or regional associations around the world. Representing 30 years of shared family experience, through the accumulated knowledge within and amongst its members, it offers confidential exchange and peer-to-peer learning, supporting sustainable and successful family businesses to both the benefit of families in business and the wider Irish economy.
Here for the long run
The Family Business Network has also offered its support to government in developing a properly effective taskforce approach to addressing the newest challenge to jobs – the unprecedented level of cost increases. “Working together across society was how we collectively protected Ireland during the pandemic. We need the same national cooperation now before costs rise so high that jobs can’t be sustained.
“A taskforce would have wide support to finally get action on such key costs as insurance and on reform of local rates as only local employers pay rates whereas online competitors don’t. It would also cut through blockages in the planning system and simplify access to supports for re-investment in their communities by local employers and remove obstacles to availability of key skills.”
Current challenges for small firms include staff shortages, inflationary pressures, cost-of-doing-business and supply chain issues are adding to the woes of small business owners across Ireland.
Maybe it’s time for a mentor, suggests Sven Spollen-Behrens, Small Firms Association director (SFA). Richard Branson once said: “Ask any successful businessperson, and they will always have had a great mentor at some point along the road.” Famous mentoring relationships include Steve Jobs supporting Mark Zuckerberg, and Steven Spielberg mentoring fellow director JJ Abrams. But it isn’t necessary to be at the top of a glamorous industry to strike up a productive mentoring connection.
Owners and managers of SMEs can look to MentorsWork, a free business development scheme from SFA and Skillnet Ireland to identify and tackle skills gaps and development needs.
An excellent resource
Mark Jordan, chief strategy officer at national talent development agency Skillnet Ireland, calls MentorsWork an excellent resource to help critically evaluate business performance and develop original solutions to business challenges. “Few small businesses were unaffected by the pandemic,” he says. “Some adapted and some grew, but many simply survived. 2022 is about a return to proactive planning and expansion, as we adjust operations and budgets to a new and changed business environment.”
Hearing their mentor’s experiences, first-hand, confirmed for one business-owner that their struggles were not a sign of failure. Instead, they learned that they would prepare them to be a better businessperson in the future.
Jordan adds: “A mentor helps you look at situations from a perspective you may not have considered, yourself. Seeing your business through the eyes of a customer, potential investor or competitor can bring a whole new understanding.”
Sharing concerns
Owning a business can be stressful and frustrating, but many entrepreneurs feel it is unwise to confide in employees or associates. But sharing worries or concerns with a mentor is helpful, and can start the process of working to solve the difficulty. Mentors help develop softer business skills too, like negotiation, motivation, training and development, or staff communication.
Sonya Murphy-Lyons, founder and director of the Mezzo Music Academy in Terenure, notes: “During the pandemic, I took the academy online. While online music lessons were originally a means to an end, we realised this could be another new business avenue. My mentor guided and encouraged me. The opportunity to discuss ideas and challenges with a fellow entrepreneur was invaluable.”
Meanwhile, Dr Catherine Faherty, director of DCU National Centre for Family Business, advises that leaders who have built a reputation of trustworthiness are seen viewed in a more positive light by their teams. She cites all-island data collected for a study titled Surviving a Crisis as a Family Business. In particular, the research shows that those who demonstrated concern for employee well-being during the crisis fostered good team morale.
“It’s important for leaders to be transparent with their teams and to share honest information with them. During a crisis, leaders should communicate exactly what they know, what they don’t know, and how and when they plan to seek additional information,” says Faherty.
Employees in the study responded positively when leaders were upfront and practiced strong communication and follow-through.
One chief executive provided advice on this point, advising: “Get really close to the issues and identify what is really important right now – cut away distractions. Show real involvement and leadership. Stay very calm and avoid looking spooked or uncertain about the direction being taken. Make decisions after receiving input but try and bring the team members with you as much as possible.”