Keeping the brand in the family
The piece asks how the Antinoris managed to keep their business growing and in family hands for so long, when most family businesses stumble after a few generations.
Here’s what I gleaned from the article:
- Having a strong vision and values (” We just all grew up with the same values. And somehow, we all know when it’s time to make a decision together.”)
- Related to this vision, having a grounded outlook (”We have the link with the land, the traditions, so we’ve got our feet on the ground.”)
- Forsaking of business and management fads (”There is no biz-school-inspired strategy for this”).
- A business which by nature requires long-term vs. short-term thinking (”you put a vine in the ground and the first cash flow you see is a decade later”).
- Promoting from within the ranks to allow time to “instill the same values and vision”, while extending a laissez-faire, come-or-go attitude to members of each new generation (”senior Antinori members have never been in a hurry to press new generations into service, instead letting them make up their own minds”).
- Having access to outside capital to provide a cushion when things get tough (Antinori sold a minority stake to Whitbread PLC in the mid-80s to provide much-needed capital, only to buy it back in full with the help of Italian banks in ‘92).
- But also knowing when to say no to bankers peddling private equity (”You should hear the tantalizing proposals they give me… Honestly, I’ve never been tempted.”).
- Diversifying and engaging carefully with global markets (Antinori now owns vineyards in Napa, Chile, Hungary, as well as as string of restaurants to help pour the wine)
- And of course, luck has also been a major factor, as the article acknowledges.
Imagine starting a business today, and having the Journal write about the company and your ancestors in 2608, six hundred years from now…
