regent's family business club
DESCRIPTION
A proposal of creating a family business club at Regent's University London.TRANSCRIPT
April 19th 2013
Proposal
SESO GROUP:
Suhaila Asbah
Steven Drakou
Alex Golovin
Elin Bjornback
Table of Contents
METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................... 2
REASONING BEHIND AND PURPOSE.........................................................................................................3
OBJECTIVES....................................................................................................................................................... 4
PARTNERS......................................................................................................................................................... 5
MANAGEMENT (COMMITTEE).................................................................................................................... 6
MEMBERSHIP................................................................................................................................................... 7
STRUCTURE...................................................................................................................................................... 7
ACTIVITIES........................................................................................................................................................ 8
FUNDING OF THE CLUB................................................................................................................................. 9
MEMBER OF THE SEMESTER AWARD....................................................................................................11
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................................. 12
APPENDICES................................................................................................................................................... 14
APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONS.................................................................................................................................14
Methodology
For this proposal, both primary and secondary sources were used. Non-probability
sampling was used as the research focused solely on stakeholders of family business, in
particular Regent college students. Qualitative approach involved surveys composed of
10 questions (see Appendix 1). with the purpose of finding out if an interest of creating a
family business club existed and what content was required. In addition, to create a
positioning for the club, a competitive analysis was made. The survey and competitive
analysis were combined with sources from the Internet.
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Introduction
Regent’s University London has over 4000 students of 100 different nationalities
(Regent’s University London, 2013), with many of them being part of successful family
businesses. Currently, there exist several societies on campus, for example law society,
racing society and cultural society but yet no club, association or society has been
founded that focus primarily on family businesses. Therefore, this report aims to
propose the creation of a Regent’s Family Business Club, by explaining its purpose and
content. The most important inputs from the survey is presented throughout the report.
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Reasoning Behind and Purpose
According to the PWC family business survey (2012) it shows that family firms are
robust, vigorous and successful – they are ambitious, entrepreneurial and delivering
solid profits even in the continued uncertain economic environment. Family businesses
are making a substantial but undervalued contribution to stability and growth and it is
believed that governments could do more to offer the sort of targeted support that
would make a significant difference for them. For instance there is special body in
Australia, which helps family business (which is valued 4,3 trillion dollars) in the region
and raises attention to it from government and public (O’Neil, 2013). It is here the
Regent’s Family Business Club aims to come in and support those businesses through
preparing the next leading generations.
Amongst the 20 students participating in the survey, that were either part of a family
business or interested in learning more about family businesses, 15 said that they would
be interested in being part of a family business club. The reasons for joining were mainly
to create valuable connections (networking), spot job opportunities and to share
knowledge and experiences (learn more about other family businesses) while some of
the participants would seek to both give and receive support (how to deal with issues
such as succession, family feuds etc.).
The reasons why five students would not want to take part of a club were because they
did not believe that they would have enough time to be fully engaged in the activities
held, had low overall interest in being part of a club or that they was not planning to
work in their family businesses.
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Reasons for joining the club
Reason
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Therefore, Regent’s Family Business Club will aim to connect students that come from or
are interested in family businesses in various industries, from retail and finance to
shipping and hospitality, in order to build a rich network. The members will gain
experience and create valuable global connections while the club will provide the
students will balanced practical and academic knowledge for them to use in their
present or future family business life.
Objectives
The main objectives of Regent’s Family Business Club will be to:
Unite students interested in or part of family businesses to share knowledge,
experiences and ideas.
Create a platform for students within family businesses to give and receive
support.
Spot job opportunities through connecting different family businesses with
international scope.
Build valuable networks between students, family businesses and other
universities.
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Strengthen the Regent’s College brand in the international family business
society.
Establish strong relationships with domestic and foreign university based family
business clubs as part of the expansion of Regent’s University London.
Partners
One of the objectives of Regent’s Family Business Club will be to build strong
relationships with other university based clubs like Wharton family business club from
the US, ICG from Egypt and GSB from Stanford, with the purpose of creating an
association such as the International Family Business Network on a student level, which
is not shown to exist in the present. Therefore, instead of doing a competitive analysis,
here will follow a presentation of suggested partners and how they could help to expand
both the Regent’s Family Business Club and Regent’s University London brand globally.
The existing family business club at neighboring London Business School has, according
to the website (London Business School, 2013), over 400 members. This gives them a
great advantage, for already having an established themselves on the international
arena, a network that Regent’s Family Business Club could explore. Their unique selling
points are mainly that the club is part of one of the world’s leading business schools
(Financial Times a, 2013) and that it aims to “build knowledge, expand networks and
growing the LBS brand in the global family business community” (London Business
School, 2013).
Wharton Family Business Club is well established on the American market. The
unique selling point of Wharton is, in addition of having a large network of family
businesses and participating in global conferences, that the club aims to establish family
business as a field of study in Wharton University, which could improve the knowledge
and be an inspiration for Regent’s Family Business Club to try and achieve at the
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university. They also run Global Family Alliance events (Wharton Graduate Association,
2013).
The family business club at Columbia Business School in New York was started in
2010 with the aim of creating a worldwide network to ease business transactions. One
unique selling point is that the school is based in central New York, located just blocks
from the established New York Family Business Center, which with their base of
specialist advisors (NY FBC, 2013) could create great opportunities for finding
interesting guest speakers and create other shared events. The club has also created a
Family Business Management Program composed of current students, alumni and
external family businesses in New York with the purpose of increasing awareness of
family business challenges and issues (Columbia Business School, 2013).
A fourth, non-university partner is suggested to be the UK based advisory firm Albert
Goodman. The firm launched their family business club in 2011, which has become a
huge success (Albert Goodman, 2013). Regent’s Family Business Club should become
part of this club to take advantage of their specialist guidance and assistance relating to
both how to run the business and more financial issues. Joining the Albert Goodman
club would provide the members of Regent’s Family Business Club with a large, valuable
network that also their families can take advantage of.
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Management (Committee)
Regent’s Family Business Club will be managed of a committee that is in charged of
structuring the meetings, accepting memberships, scheduling events and ensuring that
all members are content with the club. The committee will be elected annually as some
students could are graduated. There will not be a President; instead three people will
take the roles as coordinators, to avoid hierarchy power structure. At the beginning,
these people will be the founders of the Club and whilst the membership expands
(hopefully) and the founders graduate, members can request interest of being part of
the committee, a decision that is taken from the current coordinators in terms of
capability, interest, ideas etc.
Membership
The membership of Regent’s Family Business Club will be limited to students of Regent’s
University London. The initial idea was to limit the club to business students but since
family businesses can be of any shape or form, it has been decided that students from all
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of the seven schools incorporated under the brand are welcome to join, whether it be a
finance or fashion and design student. It is not required that members are part of a
family business but in order to create a meaningful purpose of the club, the members do
need to have an interest of learning more about the dynamics of family run businesses. If
not already part of one, maybe they seek to gain knowledge and experience to one day
start their own?
It was previously said that when graduating, members would automatically become
alumni of the club and get the chance to be involved by, for example participating in
events or be a guest speaker. To be part of alumni is something that the students would
consider. Taking this into account, to not require people to be alumni of separate clubs, a
good idea would be to connect the Regent’s Family Business Club alumni with the main
one of the whole college, to extend the network even further.
As explained under the section “Funding of the Club” further below, the suggested initial
membership fee of £100 have been changed to a free membership with charged events
of fees around £10.
Structure
The initial idea was to have a monthly meeting with all members where they would take
part in debates on pre chosen topics, tackle cases of the diverse challenges of family
businesses and to share each other experiences. When conducting the survey it was
concluded that most of the students asked, 75%, would be willing to participate in
monthly meetings and attend one or two events during the semester.
Therefore, it has been determined that Regent’s Family Business Club will begin with
having:
Monthly meetings
Holding one or two events during the semester
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Activities
When answering the question regarding the content of the club, which activities they
would want the club to organize, the majority of the participants said that they would
like to attend sessions with different guest speakers. While most suggested that the
guest speakers would be entrepreneurs that came and shared their experiences of
creating and running a family business some also came with the good idea of inviting
consultants. These consultants could give presentations of how to improve your family
business, to talk more about the strategy of running a family business from an outside
perspective and to provide guidelines of how to deal with issues relating to, for example,
succession, family-business-ownership dynamics and to go public or stay private.
Networking events was also requested where the members could not only meet other
family business clubs in the UK but also invite their families to create more valuable
connections between the students on a more business level. One student also came with
the suggestion of not only creating own networking events but to join business related
networking gatherings as a group, to strengthen contacts with not only other student
related business clubs but also on a more professional level. The reason for wanting
these networking events was shown to be more easily find job opportunities. Other
suggestions of activities included workshops with different themes, wine and dine
events and social gatherings with other family business clubs or business clubs.
Networking events
Guest Speakers Wine & Dine events
Workshops Gatherings with other family business /
business clubs
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Activities wanted
Kind of activity
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Based on the survey results combined with the reasons why the students would want to
join the club, Regent’s Family Business Club will hold the following activities:
Networking events with other family business / business clubs.
Guest speaker evenings. Example of guest speakers could be parents to members,
entrepreneurs and consultants.
Workshops with different themes, for example how to best support one and
other.
Wine and Dine events to create positive dynamics in the group even outside
campus.
Funding of the Club
The initial suggestion was to have a joining membership fee of £100 to cover materials
such as notepads, pens etc. for meetings. In addition, it was suggested that the members
would pay for other activities that take place in public places such as for booking fees for
wine and dine events. Considering the results of the survey, the participant would be
ready to pay a small membership fee around £20 - £25 per semester. However, they
would only be willing to pay a fee if the club could guarantee events per semester, such
as networking events, workshops and inviting guest speakers.
Therefore, it is suggested that instead of having a membership fee that Regent’s Family
Business Club would be free to join and that members instead are charged for the
different events held. The purpose of this decision is to first create a solid membership
base and second to not to give false promises, if the committee would not be able to hold
a certain number of events per semester. However, a membership fee might be
reconsidered in the longer term. The fee for the events would vary but be at a low level
in order to not exclude any, around £10, depending on what resources are required, for
example purchasing food and drinks for workshop events.
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£10 £15 £20 £25 £30 £40 £500
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Fee willing to pay / semester
Fee / Semester
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Professional services firms such as PWC and Ernest & Young, law firms and banks seems
to be very interested in getting in touch with family firms, as they can be seen as being
sponsors to family business networks all over the world (FBN International, 2013; FBN
Sweden, 2013). To ask them to be sponsor to the Regent’s Family Business Club would
be a good idea since the Club could provide them with not only a large base of business
students (for their graduate programs etc.) but also valuable connections to both small
and large family businesses that could become profitable clients in the future. Also,
Ernest & Young has a “Junior Academy”, which is especially created for successors of
family businesses (Ernest & Young, 2013), which could be of great value for the
members of the club to gain support and more extensive knowledge.
In the case of finding sponsors would be difficult, to ask Regent’s College to be part of
funding the club would be an option.
To conclude, the Regent’s Family Business Club be funded by:
Fees for events held, between £10 - £20 per event/workshops/guest speaker
Sponsors in form of family businesses of the members and professional services
firms, law firms or banks.
(Regent’s College)
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Member of the Semester Award
To encourage the students to participate in meetings and other activities held
throughout the semester, the committee of Regent’s Family Business Club will each
semester elect one member to be the winner of the “Member of the Semester Award”.
The award is based on the level of performance and overall contribution to the club in
terms of generating ideas, participating in events held and supporting fellow members.
In addition of being an honor to receive the Award, as an extra incentive there will be a
prize. However, what the prize will be is to be determined by the committee and might
vary from semester to semester.
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Bibliography
Albert Goodman. (2013). Albert Goodman Family Business Club.Available URL: http://www.albertgoodman.co.uk/index.php/articles-events/ag-news/178-albert-goodman-family-business-club-launch-is-great-success-7-july-2011?ft=1Accessed: 17 April 2013
Columbia Business School. (2013). The Columbia Family Business Management Program.Available URL: http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/entrepreneurship/affiliates/getinvolved/familyAccessed: 17 April 2013
Ernest & Young. (2013). Ernest & Young Junior Academy Program 2013.Available URL: http://www.ey-junioracademy.comAccessed: 16 April 2013
FBN International. (2013). Alliances and Preferred Sponsors. Available URL: http://www.fbn-i.org/fbn/web.nsf/doclu/sponsorsAccessed: 16 April 2013
FBN Sweden. (2013). Våra Vänner. Available URL: http://www.fbn-sweden.seAccessed: 16 April 2013
Financial Times a. (2013). Global MBA Ranking 2013.Available URL: http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/london-business-schoolAccessed: 16 April 2013
Financial Times b. (2010). The family business club at Columbia. Available URL: http://blogs.ft.com/mba-blog/2010/07/06/the-family-business-club-at-columbia/Accessed: 17 April 2013
London Business School. (2013). Family Business Club.Available URL: http://clubs.london.edu/family/about/Accessed: 16 April 2013
NY FBC. (2013). About us.Available URL: http://www.nyfbc.com/about-us/Accessed: 17 April 2013
O’Neil, 2013. Why Family Business Has Government Attention. Retrieved on 19th of April, 2013, from: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/4/18/family-business/why-family-business-has-governments-attention
PWC. (2012). Family Business Survey 2012.Available URL: http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/pwc-family-business-survey/index.jhtmlAccessed: 15 April 2013
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Regent’s London University. (2013). About Regent’s University London.Available URL: http://www.regents.ac.uk/home/about_regents_university.aspxAccessed: 15 April 2013
Wharton Graduate Association (2013). Family Business Club.Available URL: http://www.wgaworld.org/clubs-subpage.html?catid=12&_category=professional-clubs&id=128Accessed: 17 April 2013
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Survey Questions
1. Would you be interested in joining a family business club on campus?
2. If yes, what would be your reasons for joining this club?
3. What purpose do you see this club to have?
4. How much time would you be willing/able to spend in this club (in terms of number of meetings, events, workshops)?
5. What would be the reason for you to be willing to pay a membership fee?
6. If a membership fee were required, what would be the maximum limit you would accept? Would you want the fee to be annual or charged per semester?
7. What are your suggestions in making this family club more business related than just becoming another student society?
8. In terms of content, which activities would you like the club to organize?
9. Do you believe your family (family business) would be interested in having regular contact with the club (in terms of being guest speakers, sponsors, creating job opportunities)?
10. After graduating, would you be interested in being part of alumni of the club?
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