In 2005, I attended the Family Business Australia National Conference in Adelaide. I had 
no real purpose for being there other than what I thought was the perfect opportunity to meet new clients. I went to all the seminars; however having sold the family business and started my own consulting company, most of it was interesting but not entirely relevant to me.
I remember thinking “Wouldn’t it have been wonderful for my family to have had the benefits of all this knowledge and shared wisdom”. One session was particularly moving – the incumbent generation in one room and the next generation in the other, followed by a session together where each side rather courageously told the other what they really thought. Wow!
It wasn’t until I sat down with a client later that it struck me just how much I had picked up from that conference. It was no longer relevant for my family’s business but maybe it was more than relevant for my client’s. He was going through a generational issue and was worried about how to find a solution. In effect, he was close to severing family ties for the sake of the business.
How could my client benefit from the conference he had not attended?
Two people I had met at the conference seemed to me to have the appropriate qualifications to help my client. After arranging introductions, one was selected to assist. I followed this up by asking a family who had resolved a similar situation to provide some advice.
So far, my client’s family are back to speaking to each other and seem delighted with the outcome. The family is happy and the business has benefited from having appropriate outside help to get it through to the next phase.
This situation highlights a couple of things:
1) My client was not aware of who he needed to know, and
2) What he didn’t know was hurting his business.
What he couldn’t do was be at every conference; pick up every hint or meet every advisor. Many companies cannot afford to have their key staff out of the office at all, let alone often enough to pick up all the knowledge available.
Who do you have gathering and garnering knowledge for your business?