LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Wednesday arranged a day-long workshop on “Building a sustainable Family Business.” The workshop was jointly organized by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry, QCT and International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz, Senior Vice President Mian Nauman Kabir, Amer Qureshi of QCT, former LCCI president Tariq Sayeed Saigol, Bashir A. Baksh, Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman, Syed Shahid Ali of Treet Corporation, Mehwish Bilal Khan & Mohsin Ali Chaudhry of IFC and Hamid Zaman were they key speakers.
The topics covered in the workshop were Business case for corporate governance and succession planning, the challenges of running a family business, the health check of your business and last but not the least family governance and succession.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that Family-owned business are recognized today as an important and distinct organization in the world economy. He said that Family-owned businesses now operate in every country and may be the oldest form of business organization, but only within the last decade have their unique benefits been identified and studied.
LCCI President said that family owned businesses are the backbone of any economy. He cited the example of Rolls Royce which started of as a family business. He said that it started as a family venture and took off as one of the most important car company in the country.
He said that the business spirits starts fading away when the business starts entering in the 2nd and 3rd generation. He said that the important part at this time is that the business should be handled by the corporate experts.
Ijaz A. Mumtaz said that for sustaining the business it is imperative that the decision of professionals should be given importance. Family influences for personal benefits and advantages should not drive the business.
He said that for sustaining the family business, it is imperative that the company should have a clear vision and a purposeful mission. Overseeing every step and minute detail of the business development is also vital.
LCCI President said that strong entrepreneurial spirit is actually the backbone for supporting the family venture. He said that the core reason being the direct contact of the employees and founders which bonds their mutual relationship. In my view attention should be given to this particular point since loyal team members will produce concrete results.
Amer Qureshi of QCT threw light on various features of a sustainable family business and how its sustainability can be enhanced.
He said that the success or failure of the business often comes back to the business owner and founder. He said that businessmen must have a strategy, a good product or service, motivation, determination, a good bank manager, attitude, single-mindedness, an ethic of hardwork, understanding partner and family, foresight, management ability, calmness under pressure and some start-up capital for a successful business.
He said that business planning or planning in general is not only for big corporations and multinationals – it is just as important if not more so, for SMEs; after all, we do not have the resources or the reserves to survive if things don’t go as the should.
He said that most small business start from humble beginning like home or dad’s garage, a friend’s kitchen or the like. He said that in most ventures it takes time to build client base, get the businessmen name known and to start producing profits.
LCCI Senior Vice President Mian Nauman Kabir said that due to the ever changing societal norms, increasingly complex business environment and the recent corporate collapse of companies around the globe, Corporate Governance has emerged as an imperative issue at the forefront of organizational concerns.
Tariq Saeed Saigol shared his own experiences with the audiences and won a lot of applauses.
Mehwish Bilal Khan elaborated why is corporate governance important for family owned business (FOBs).
