South Africa’s rugby head coach Heyneke Meyer (left) and hooker Adriaan Strauss attend a press conference in London. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
Entrepreneurial environments are dynamic, with rapid changes taking place in and out the market space.
New family businesses should carefully prepare and, when the opportunity presents itself, audaciously attack established players.
Established family businesses should, when defeated in the marketplace, be gracious and magnanimous.
A sense of disbelief, travelling faster than the speed of sound, gripped rugby fans all over the world on August 8 when a match in South Africa ended. Against all odds, for the first time in 50 years, Argentina’s Pumas defeated South Africa’s Springboks at home in their 20th meeting.
The score line, 37-25 at full time, made it clear to all that this was no fluke; Argentina deserved the victory over the two-time world champions. The atmosphere in the stadium was one of despondence.
It did not end there; South Africa was in for another shock. On September 19, what was supposed to be a routine whipping of the near bottom ranked team in their Rugby World Cup pool turned into a nightmare for the Springboks when “minions” Japan defeated them 34-32.
The underdogs, going by the moniker Cherry Blossoms (a most inappropriate name for a macho rugby team) displayed grit and determination, sealing the victory with a last minute try.
Disbelief in South Africa turned into outrage, with demands for heads of coaches to roll.
“Boks Humiliated!” screamed the headlines. Even the Congress of South African Trade Unions weighed into the issue, laying blame for the defeat on coach Heyneke Meyer for “playing useless, old, injured white men”, implying that the game might have been salvaged by putting more black players on the pitch.
Few considered that both Argentina and Japan came into the matches to win; that each had for decades been working on their games, making improvements and adjusting strategy. None seemed to realise that the previous chasms that existed between the sides in terms of players’ weights, coaching resources and government investment had been closed.
Closer home, Kenya’s sevens team rose from obscurity in the 1990s to reach third position in the Rugby Sevens World Cup in 2009, where Collins Injera was the top try scorer. Collins, his brother Humphrey Kayange and a large number of young upcoming players proved to the world that any team could aspire and achieve what some may consider the impossible.
The Kenya Rugby Sevens team, comprised only of amateurs, has defeated all “major” teams (New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji and Australia) at least once in various tournaments. Such achievements were thought to be the stuff of fantasy.
Kenya, Argentina and Japan are proof to any upcoming family business that world class is within reach. They are also reminders to established family businesses of the danger of resting on one’s laurels.
Leaders of Family Business ought to recognise that long term domination of a sphere of business does not entitle them or the venture to perpetual success.
Family businesses should realise that there are multitudes of competitors all around them watching carefully to understand their strategy, identify their weaknesses, and use this knowledge to strategise on how they can eat into their market share. Leaders who imagine that there are immune to defeat in the market are subject to rude surprises.
The entrepreneurial field is unlikely to be static for more than a few moments in time. Competitors are constantly evolving to meet more clearly defined customer needs. Family businesses ought to take notice of upcoming players and adapt their businesses to stay competitive in the market place.
No upcoming family business should shy away from taking on a more established player in the market, no matter how formidable the competitor may appear. Every venture has chinks in its armour; weaknesses that can be exploited to the advantage of a new audacious player. New family businesses should maximise such opportunities for growth and expansion.
When an established family business comes up against and loses against a new competitor, it ought to graciously accept defeat. The Leader of Family Business should, if necessary, accept responsibility for the setback and use it as an opportunity to re-invent the business and make it even better for the future.
Mutua is a Humphrey Fellow, leadership development consultant and author of the book, “The African Prince”, available on Amazon Kindle. Contat: [email protected]
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