PYMERO: Family Business

Dr. José Gerardo González Rocha, known as Dr. Roch, has 27 years of experience as a Doctor in Human Behavior, international consultant and speaker, talent developer for companies, as well as being the creator of methodologies focusing on human behavior.

“A family is like two hands… made up of fingers and palms, where each finger is a different and important element that fulfills a function.”

People's talent is in their hands, feet and mouth, and intelligence is based on their manual and oral skills.

What is happening?
We must understand that there is a social shock.

What happens when 61% or 62% of Mexicans start a business once in their life?

When a person starts a business, involves his family, borrows, invests all his capital, and then, in the first 3 months, he goes bankrupt, leaving him in debt and without a job, and with the complex of “I couldn’t set a good example”, “My dad didn’t do it” or “My mom couldn’t do it”, that creates a frustration that ends up being a social instrument of political manipulation, which I don’t agree with. So that’s where my job comes from, giving away information about how businesses work and how to make them prosper.

We Latinos have an immense capacity to take great risks when opening a business thanks to the love of the family and the security it provides us, because opening a business implies a great risk, so a group strength is needed, that group strength in Mexico is the family.

The company “The Global Entry Pressure Monitor” says that in past years, out of every 10 new businesses, 7 went bankrupt in their first 3 months. This data is hair-raising and that is why my work has been to spread a culture of business and market knowledge, which makes it easier for companies to sustain themselves over time.

The problem is not the creation of new businesses, the problem is the consolidation of family businesses, since the creation of a family business is not the same as the consolidation so that a family business lasts, is maintained and grows for at least more than 3 years.

In Mexico, 611% of Mexicans start a business, this percentage is tremendous, we are above Canada and we occupy the 14th place in economy worldwide, that is to say we are a very powerful economy, but a 14th economy is not good to be at level 58 of productivity. What does that mean? We are wasting too much money and resources, because we have too many resources, but little preparation to use them effectively.

Tips to overcome family business problems:

1. Differentiate whether I am here because I am the son of the owner or the brother of my general manager, or because I have the ability to occupy the position that I have.
2. Having family members prepared to make the business last and become profitable so that it can then grow.

Advantages of a family business

In business, you sometimes have to remember that no one succeeds alone, and that sometimes the person who helps you the most is your family or what is called the “cokum.” The cokum in original terms is the last place of refuge, when things are going badly for you, when nobody loves you anymore, when you are sick. What is your last place of refuge, your family or your “cokum,” or the people who are going to take care of you when you are failing. So, in our Mexican culture we give great value to the family, we honor it a lot, and I want you to know that I have worked in Japan and Europe, where the family has no value, it is very difficult to explain this to them because their culture is different.

In terms of trends, what's next for a family business?

It doesn't matter what the trends are, it's important that you pay attention to what trends there are. As long as you pay attention to what's happening, you decide and you multiply again and you enrich yourself again and you update yourself again. The joke is finding a word, we have reacted to the market, when what we have to do is adapt, adapt to the market, to the climate and to everything that happens to us, it's the beginning of the most important skill in the soft skills of a director and in people who want to be competent and successful.

Advice for family businesses

Adapt to the new generations and get to know the new market, the new rules and circumstances. Do not demand that everything continue as always and if something ends, understand that nothing was lost, that everything has a time.

Demystifying family businesses:

1. The percentage of companies created from a family business is above 80%.
2. It is a big mistake that most people tend to undervalue a family business compared to an institutional business.
3. 9 out of 10 jobs come from a micro or medium-sized company founded as a family business.
4. Break the structure of leaving your family business to start your institutional business.
5. We are among the 10 countries with the greatest capacity to create new businesses. In Mexico, 611% of Mexicans start a business.

(2019). Family Business. SME, Year 4, number 23. Page 03 to page 05.