Why I Use Other People's Money says Michael Lee-Chin

“Do you know a wealthy person? Hold their image in your mind and I will show how there are a few golden principles to how they grew their wealth,” said Michael Lee-Chin, one of Canada’s billionaires at Airsprint Jet’s client reception. Michael shared that there are rules to getting rich and that he would bet that this person of wealth you were imagining, used these rules. He challenged that the answer would be "yes" to his five questions. So here are Michael’s five questions which are the golden rules to growing wealth:

1. Did this person of wealth own their business and a few other businesses they knew very well?
2. Did they know these businesses were in a good long-term industry?
3. Did they own these businesses for a significant time?
4. Did they manage the tax implications?
5. Did they use other people’s money to grow their businesses?

Question number five is the most critical – how to use other people’s money to grow your own wealth.  It is also the most challenging for business owners.
To think about using other people’s money and then to grow the business is talking higher risk than many owners can handle. Rather than investigate further, they throw up road blocks. First is an initial gag reflex to sharing control and decision making power, which comes with using other people’s money. 

There is fear of inviting in financial experts who are weasels and who may steal the business. 

Then there is satisfaction with how the business runs today; the owner may not feel a pressing need.  Most owners meet their level of revenues that they can manage, and they stop there. Why risk any of their personal money to grow? Rather take it out and buy property, stocks and other --frankly--lower return investments.
Michael Lee-Chin would remind you that the time for opportunity is when everyone is afraid – like right now. He also talks about how some level of success invites complacency. Michael says that the the winners learn how to other people’s money – private equity--and understand their road blocks. these are often fears. Understand these fears. 

Decide if you really want to create wealth. If you own a business and you want to become wealthier, learn how to use other people’s money – private equity money. 

Lee-Chin learnt this in 1979 when he came across a copy of John Train’s 1980 book The Money Masters—and was exposed for the first time to the buy-and-hold value philosophy of investing guru Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. “All of a sudden I was twigged on to an investing strategy that made sense to me,” says Michael. He borrowed money to purchase $500,000 of Mackenzie Financial stock. After four years, this stock appreciated seven-fold, and Michael used the profits to own his own business, a small Ontario-based investment firm called AIC Limited. At that time, Advantage Investment Counsel had assets under management of just $800,000. Within 20 years, AIC grew from less than $1 million and – at its business peak – posted more than $15 billion in assets under management. In September 2009, it was purchased by Manulife. At all stages of the business growth, Michael used other people's money and is now on Canada's Billionaire's list. As Michael ended his talk, his helicopter out on Airsprint's runway began to crank up, and then he was gone but he left behind a great deal of energy in that room of business owners.

Jacoline Loewen, expert in private equity and author of Money Magnet: How to Attract Other People's Money to Your Business.

And why bother with values?

Values are just behaviors – specific, nitty-gritty, and so descriptive they leave little to the imagination. People must be able to use them as marching orders because they are the how of the mission, the means to the end -- winning.
In contrast to the creation of a mission, everyone in a company should have something to say about values. Yes, that can be a messy undertaking. That’s OK. In a small enterprise, everyone can be involved in debating them in all kinds of meetings. In a larger organization, it’s a lot tougher. But you can use company-wide meetings, training sessions, and the like, for as much personal discussion as possible, and the intranet for broader input.
Getting more participation really makes a difference, giving you more insights and more ideas, and at the end of the process, most importantly, much more extensive buy-in.
The actual process of creating values, incidentally, has to be iterative. The executive team may come up with a first version, but it should be just that, a first version. Such a document should go out to be poked and probed by people all over an organization, over and over again. And the executive team has to go out of their way to be sure they’ve created an atmosphere where people feel it is their obligation to contribute.
Now if you’re in a company where speaking up gets you whacked, this method of developing values just isn’t going to work. I understand that, and as long as you stay, you’re going to have to live with that generic plaque in the front hall.
But if you’re at a company that does welcome debate – and many do -- shame on you if you don’t contribute to the process. If you want values and behaviors that you understand and can live yourself, you have to make the case for them.
Read more at Jack and Suzy Welch.

One question when doing your Mission - How are you going to win in this game?

Business owners needing to push their people more in a shared direction look to the Mission statement. Yet, when I am working with companies, I meet many owners who believe the Mission is a description only, not an aspirational dream. They also stick to the safe words and descriptions - "we find world class solutions for our customers." So what? That is what everyone is doing. If your Mission is the same as any business in your industry, tear it up and start again with your senior team. Make sure you put in a financial goal too.
I have followed Jack Welch's principles of strategy for twenty years and I think his definition of the Mission is the best I have seen. By the way, good Private equity firms  know how to use the Mission statement. Make sure you ask about their expertise in using them.
Jack Welch believes that: 

An effective mission statement basically answers one question: How do we intend to win in this business? 

It does not answer: What did we used to be good at in the good old days? Nor does it answer: How can we describe our business so that no particular unit or division or senior executive gets pissed off? Instead, the question “How do we intend to win in this business?” is defining. It requires companies to make choices about people, investments, and other resources, and prevents them from falling into the common mission trap of asserting they will be all things to all people at all times. The question forces companies to delineate their strengths and weaknesses and assess where they can profitably play in the competitive landscape. 

Yes, profitably – that’s the key. Even Ben & Jerry’s, the crunchy-granola, hippy, save-the-world ice cream company based in Vermont, has “profitable growth and increased value for stakeholders” as one of the elements of its three-part mission statement because its executives know that without financial success, all the social goals in the world don’t have a chance.Now, that’s not saying a mission shouldn’t be bold or aspirational. Ben & Jerry’s, for instance, wants to sell “all-natural and euphoric concoctions” and “improve the quality of life locally, nationally and internationally.” That kind of language is great in that it absolutely has the power to excite people and motivate them to stretch.
At the end of the day, effective mission statements balance the possible and the impossible. They give people a clear sense of the direction to profitability and the inspiration to feel they are part of something big and important.
Read more of Jack Welch's views and Suzie Welch.

Succession when your son is 50 plus is too tough

Succession, which has never been easy for families, is getting tougher. Today, greater longevity means many patriarchs stay in power much longer, forcing a whole generation of family members into other pursuits. 

“Kids” these days don’t want to wait until they’re 50 plus to take charge. By that time, they have usually found their own passion or are weakened by waiting in the wings, so to speak.

This is an enormous threat to the ability of the company to survive and thrive when the next generation do finally pick up the reins. Cracks in the family happiness are often showing too. There is nothing sadder than seeing a family where Dad has not given a clear line of succession and worked hard to pass over the real decision making and leadership before son or daughter reaches middle age.

At the same time, too many patriarchs adhere to the age-old practice of passing the reins to progeny, regardless of talent. That tradition brought acceptable odds of success in less competitive eras. One way to allow the next generation to remain in the business is to bring in 30% private equity partners who understand how to accommodate family business dynamics but make sure there is an excellent COO to run the show. I have seen some talented managers work well within the family business environment, respecting the family business ownership structure as well as drawing on the private equity skills.

Jacoliine Loewen, family business expert recommends:

Every Family's Business: 12 Common Sense Questions to Protect Your Wealth

Family businesses emphasize wealth preservation, not growth

Family businesses are a major part of the Canadian economy and being in one myself, I can see the strength of the more resilient culture. Employees may feel more of a sense of belonging and human connection more than working for a professionally run corporation. These are reasons that family businesses, in these troubled times, have been better performers. These are also the reasons private equity treasures family businesses above all other types of business ownership.

I have been working with family business owners over the past decade and I have come to see a big threat looming in their future which, if left ignored, will impact on the future of the Canadian economy.

My  major concern is that I notice the main goal for family businesses is to preserve wealth, over accumulation. In other words, the family business is less likely to invest in new projects for the sake of growth.

“Why would I risk our own money to grow? If it is not successful, I am out of pocket,” is the typical comment. Quite understandable, but in this new environment, that sort of thinking will be the ruin of the family business.

I am not the only one has picked up this pressing crisis. Jack and Suzy Welch also write about this increasing crack in the foundation of the family business which will threaten their survival.  Jack Welch says,

“That protect-the-assets approach often worked in simpler times, but it could prove devastating in a global environment where risk-taking and growth are essential to survival.”

There is direct action for family business owners to counter this global economy threat to the family business and I usually ask these question: Would you like to have the world's best business minds apply their ideas to the business? Would you like to grow into new geographic regions but without using your own cash? Would you like to reduce your growth risk by having experts who have already worked in those regions?

Private equity brings these valuable skills to the Board room table, and far more. To have Board advisors who are global and who bring a third of the money to the business, it is a winning path to growth of wealth. 

I strongly encourage family business to bring in private equity partners who sit at Board level, but do not get involved in the day-to-day operations. This extra investment will allow the family to take money out to invest in other companies which diversifies their own wealth while also addressing their reluctance to invest in the risk of growth. 

Jacoline Loewen, expert in family business and private equity, author of Money Magnet, now used as a text book for Ivey Business Schools' MBA program.