• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
WittySparks Logo White

WittySparks

Ignite Your Thoughts

  • Topics
  • Reviews
  • Newsletter
WittySparks / Business / B2B / Family Businesses: A Solid Presence in the Modern B2B Marketplace
Family Business - B2B Marketing

Family Businesses: A Solid Presence in the Modern B2B Marketplace

B2B July 11, 2015 by Nishitha

Family businesses seem old-fashioned, and long in the tooth, but they actually are some of the most sustainable companies in the modern marketplace. Here’s why.

Family Businesses Survive Economic Downturns Better

Research at the Center for Management and Economic Research at cole Polytechnique compiled a list of 149 public companies that were also family-owned. The companies all had revenues of more than $1 billion, and they were diversified across several countries, including the U.S., Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Mexico.

What they discovered was that family-owned and run companies did not earn as much money during good economic times as their non-family-owned counterparts. However, when the economy takes a turn for the worse, those same family companies outshine their stuffy corporate counterparts.

The long-term performance for family-owned companies was higher than for non-family businesses in every country studied. This research also showed that an established family business weathered economic downturns better than non-family owned companies.

Family Businesses Are More Frugal

One of the reasons that family-owned companies out-survive non-family-owned companies is that they’re more frugal with funds. They tend not to spend money on frivolous things, like lavish offices.

Large non-family companies tend to use stock options and grants to align management’s interest with the interest of the company, its employees, and consumers. However, family-owned companies tend to view the company’s finances as the family’s finances, creating an inherent conflict-free business relationship.

Family Businesses Are More Fiscally Responsible

Family-run operations also tend to use less debt (leverage) during good economic times, which may account for their more modest profits.

And yet, this becomes a benefit in tough economic times. To put it plainly, family-run companies tend not to spend more than they earn. It seems like such a simple economic principle and one that is lost on large multinationals.

Companies, like Midlake products, are a shining example of this simple philosophy.

Family Companies Stay Small

Family companies tend to remain small, though this isn’t always true in terms of absolute size. In general, they don’t grow as large as their non-family peers though. This becomes an advantage when the market turns south, as there isn’t as much risk from previous mergers and acquisitions.

Family Businesses Are Nimble

Because family-run businesses often employ family members that sit on the board of directors, and because the company is a manageable size, they tend to be more nimble, which keeps them out of financial trouble.

Family Business Retain Talent

One of the most successful family businesses in the northeast, Wegmans, is a grocery store juggernaut. And yet, it’s considered a smallish family-owned business. It’s got nothing on its peers in terms of absolute size.

Walmart is orders of magnitude larger, and yet the small grocer owned by the Wegman family is adored in the community. In fact, it’s one of the most loved small businesses in not just the northeast, but in the entire U.S. And, that’s quite a feat considering it only has 85 stores.

The company’s secret? It retains some of the best talents in the industry, it pays a good wage for its workers in the local community, and it is both employee and consumer-friendly, with a focus on quality and pride.

That’s not something you get from large corporate chain stores.

Julie Shrum is the sales manager at Midlake. Working there for nearly 20 years has taught her a lot about metal fabrication and business in general. She works with her sales team to create a comfortable atmosphere for customers. Wearing many hats at Midlake has helped Julie find out about the many new uses for sheet metal.

Image Source: Marketing Positioning

Related Topics

  • B2C And B2B Portal Design trends: Strategies In 2021
  • Why and How to Update B2B Buyer Personas?
Previous Post: « ASIA Apparel Expo 2015, back with the finest clothes!
Next Post: Top iPad Apps for Managing Your Money Better »
Profile picture for Nishitha

About Nishitha

Co-founder of WittySparks
WittySparks Staff

I am done with my Physiotherapy Graduation. And I always try to share Health and technology tips with people. Apart from Physiotherapy and being a tech savvy, I do explore more on Technology side and I keep sharing my findings with wider audience.

View all posts by Nishitha

Primary Sidebar

Search

Exclusive Coupons

  • Moqups coupon code: WITTYSPARKS for 20% or PARTNERS50 for 50% discount.
  • WPForms coupon code: WITTYSPARKS for 50% off.
  • Serpstat coupon code: wittysparks_discount for 30% off.
  • SEO Buddy coupon code: WITTYSPARKS for 25% off.
  • Morningscore coupon code: wittysparks for 30% off for 3 months.
  • FlexClip coupon code: WITTYSPARKS for 30% off.
  • Uplead coupon code: “witty” for 30-day free trial.
  • FastestVPN coupon codes: WITTYSPARKS15 or WITTYSPARKS10 or Get up to 93% OFF.
  • Outranking.io coupon code: WITTYSPARKS50 for 50% off.

For more such offers visit our exclusive offers for SEO, Bloggers, Marketers and for Business owners.

Featured Productivity Software

Notion logo
Notion

Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a large team, Notion Workspace can help you stay organized and get more done. Get started today and take your productivity to the next level.

Try Notion for FREE

Footer

Affiliate Disclosure

If you make a purchase from WittySparks links, we will receive a small commission. See our Affiliate Disclosure.

Sponsors

Partnered with FreePik to use the licensed images.

turn to dhgate for smartphone

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • RSS

Copyright © 2023 · Hosting sponsored by Rocket.net (Affiliate link)

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Like
  • Pinterest