Building Long Term

I was attending a conference of early-stage founders last week when the question came up on what’s the right way for entrepreneurs and professional to think about compliances and beyond. On this, I described how we think at @OfBusiness and @Oxyzo.

We have always believed that thinking about what we should be abiding by is a continuum and where we want to be on it.

1^st comes compliance. Abiding by the law of the land. It’s very simple – one has to do it at all costs. Not doing it is foolishness. In our opinion, if you are violating them, you will last likely a maximum of 5 years (before a likely government change), perish likely much before.

2^nd comes governance. They are not laws, but a commitment (usually written) that one has given to one’s ecosystem – employees, customers, suppliers, lenders and investors. Not following them leads to loss of trust and that hurts scale, asset quality and profitability after some time. Its forgivable if not frequent and in nascency, especially when not material, but if done over and over again, the business will last a maximum of 10 years (if already compliant). People’s thinking evolves over a decade, much like our physical bodies do, they don’t stand mistrust that long.

3^rd comes ethics (or values). A collective consciousness of how the institution wants to behave. If governance is external, ethics are internal. Ethics usually binds the team, and when they are bound they run towards the common goal with greater purpose. This unity comes in handy at all times, good or bad. We believe that you ensure a continuity of 20-30 years (if already compliant and well governed) if you are ethical. When a generation changes, usually values evolve, and one has to evolve with it.

4^th comes morals. This is the last part of the spectrum. This is completely individual, nothing to do with the organization. These are righteous ideals by which individuals conduct themselves, ones acquired over their growing up years. Hence, having them or not is a choice. But when an organization has a multitude of them, along with the above 3, then it usually transcends a generation. Hopefully, what most of us have set out for.

#lifeatofbusiness
#lifeatoxyzo