We’re all familiar with the term 'fruit of our labor'. Wealth is an obvious form of that fruit. However, the more I am around people who have created massive wealth, the more I have realized that this fruit is often seedless. It is a bastardization of real fruit. It does not reproduce life but rather ends with itself. This kind of wealth exists purely for the commercial whims of our day - catering to convenience rather than anything beyond it.
At Firm Studio, our mission holds this tension at its core. While it's nice to run a great service company that creates free cash flow, we’re also dedicated to considering the next generation of leaders and preparing to pass the business on to them. These future leaders could be younger partners or family members.
The challenge is this. Service companies essentially rely on the talent of the founder(s) to stay in business. Transferring that talent and skill to the next generation is a tricky fusion of both art and science. It’s a tough equation to solve.
How can we better prepare for the future of business?
By building better technology. While technology is by no means a silver bullet solution, it can help codify best practices that allow a founder to more easily pass on a business to the next generation. If you want a sustainable future, you’re going to have to sacrifice some of your present resources. That’s a hard thing to do when things are going well. But making those difficult choices now can change the trajectory of years to come.
The takeaway from this blog isn’t an action, but rather a question to ask yourself and your leadership team.
What kind of fruit am I creating with my work and with my life? How am I setting up my team, family, and stakeholders for future success?
