Brazil's Thriving Family Businesses

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.ifb.org.uk/ Visiting Brazil as part of an IFB and Pi-Capital delegation of family business owners and entrepreneurs, last week, gave me a unique opportunity to meet leaders at the forefront of driving the growth and development of this rising global powerhouse.


The programme organised by Leaders Quest, included meeting Persio Arida, managing partner of BTG Pactual (Brazil’s leading investment bank) and Arminio Fraga, head of Gavea Investimentos and former President of the Central Bank of Brazil. Both are respected public figures and provided upbeat assessments on the outlook for their nation which is forecast to emerge as the world’s fifth largest economy. The UK’s Ambassador Alan Charlton also echoed this in a speech to the delegation.

A wave of optimism is sweeping across Brazil and the sense of opportunity is heightened by the fact that it will be hosting the World Cup in 2014 followed by the Rio Olympics in 2016. Meeting well known family-controlled business groups such as Camargo Correa, Odebrecht, Wilson Sons and members of FBN Brazil we saw strong signs of investing for growth. These groups, and others we visited, are achieving long-term sustainable performance, focusing on more than just financial results by strengthening their human resources to drive further growth. In a nation with wide disparities of wealth, there are barriers to social mobility partly due to weaknesses in the education system. The leaders we met are supporting social enterprises that are working to address these and other social issues. Some of the most progressive social entrepreneurs we met include internationally renowned Rodrigo Baggio, of CDI and Dr Vera Cordeiro of Saude Crianca; these and others showed us how their organisations are tackling some of the most endemic issues in their society.

Progressive governance practices are seen as key to enabling Brazil’s leading family controlled groups to achieve clarity in their vision for growth and combined with sound values Brazil’s family business sector is well placed to contribute to driving economic development. Buoyed by an expanding middle class the Brazilian market for goods and services consumption is set to grow, assisted by growth in exports of minerals and commodities. With the scourge of inflation now seen as a historical phenomenon the risks for Brazil veering off course appear to be limited.

Entrepreneurship - the pursuit of opportunity

http://www.ifb.org.uk/ I’m looking forward to hearing the opening address by Professor John Mullins, of the London Business School, at the IFB’s Next Generation International Convention 2011 in January. The convention’s theme is Entrepreneurship – the pursuit of opportunity and as associate professor of management practice in marketing and entrepreneurship, Mullins is an acknowledged expert in the field.

Professor Mullins will be developing some themes from his latest book Getting to Plan B, where he debunks the form-filling, spreadsheet-driven mentality popular in business planning. Mullins believes that entrepreneurs should adopt a series of ‘stress tests’ to their initial ideas so that any weaknesses can be corrected. He suggests that the real success of companies such as Google, PayPal, Starbucks and others was that they were prepared to rip up Plan A and make radical changes to their business model.

Cover via AmazonHe has also identified two other key criteria for any successful enterprise to assess. First many business people see fast-growing markets as a good area to explore, but Professor Mullins wants people to realise that the more important side of the equation is to ask whether customers will actually buy your product. Secondly if you’ve satisfied yourself on that question then you have to ask if you can build a sustainable competitive advantage in that industry – otherwise you might find a bigger player comes along and wins the day.

We feel sure that insights such as these will inspire and enthuse the next generation family members who attend the Convention 28-29 January 2011. It will be a great occasion for delegates to hear from a line-up of international speakers about entrepreneurship in all its forms - whether its starting a business, looking to set up a social enterprise, or just learning more about entrepreneurship.

You can hear more from Professor Mullins about these ideas on this video.