Family businesses
Building on what is valuable. Heritage and new ambitions both deserve their place. We help your brand move along with succession, growth and new markets.
A different kind.
Of difficult.
Flanders runs on family businesses, and a large share of them are in or just before a handover. That is almost always when the brand question surfaces. A new leadership arrives with its own vision, there is a story tied to the previous generation, and there are employees who have worked there longer than the new managing director has been alive. The decision is not purely business: there is family at the table.
“The question is rarely whether the brand should change. The question is what remains of the previous generation, and who decides that.”
Sectors
Should we keep the family name?
In most cases, yes. That name is often your biggest asset built up in the market. The question is rather what the name should come to mean, and whether it needs to be equally prominent everywhere. With internationalisation or a planned sale, the trade-off changes.
What if the two generations disagree?
It happens, and it's not a problem as long as it is named. Our role is then to bring the disagreement back to a business choice with consequences, rather than a family discussion. What we don't do is pick a side to keep the project running smoothly.
Is this the right moment, in the middle of a handover?
Usually, yes, on one condition: the new leadership is clear and has a mandate. As long as it isn't settled who decides, a brand project becomes a discussion forum.