Some of the biggest business breakthroughs occur when ideas or best practices are borrowed from one industry and applied to another completely different industry. For example, FedEx and spoke wheels lend the business model of the Federal Reserve banking system. This can also be applied to the financial industry. For example, you can borrow back Xerox strategy to help improve your personal finances.
Xerox was the dominant player in the market has copying about 86 percent of the market in 1974. By the early 1980s, Xerox found in pretty bad condition, are more susceptible to intense competition from U.S. and Japanese competitors. It ignores the new members as RICOH and Canon are consolidating their positions and gaining many transactions at the bottom of the market and in niche segments. As a result, the market share of Xerox in copiers took a nosedive, with only 17 percent of the market in 1984.
In 1982, David T. Kearns took over as CEO and began to focus on quality control. He conducts benchmarking program to combat competition and regain market share. The program encourages Xerox to find ways to reduce their production costs. Determination against Japanese competitors, Xerox learned that it is twice as long as its Japanese competitors to bring the product to market, five times the number of engineers, four times the number of design changes, and three times the design costs.
Xerox went on to become one of the best examples of successful implementation of benchmarking. As a family business owners may already be used benchmarks in their business management, very little used strategy for wealth management. For example, the benchmark can serve as an invaluable tool to determine whether you are getting an acceptable rate of return on your investment.
In terms of personal wealth management, family business owners may be a benchmark for at least 3 or 4 things, like Xerox did. The real high, owners can compare their portfolio returns on what you need to achieve their goals. Maybe that number is 5 percent, perhaps 8 percent, but there is no reason to chase additional risk and return if the target is not guaranteed. The comparison can not only provide a picture of the progress being made, but also provide the owner the opportunity to make adjustments to the target or portfolio as necessary.
At the next level, the family business owner can compare the overall portfolio returns to the appropriate underlying benchmark. One possibility is to compare the returns and volatility of a portfolio of similar portfolio of indexes. Index is a small sample of the category which represents the whole, it represents the average of the whole. A simplified hypothetical example is that if we have a portfolio of 50 percent bonds and 50 per cent shares could compare the returns and risk of the portfolio consists of 50 percent of the Lehman Bond Index total and 50 percent of the Russell 3000 index.
At the most micro level, also owners can look at the volatility and return numbers of individual investment portfolio. The performance of the underlying investment can be compared with the basic indexes, and other similar investments in the same category. In general, we would hope that investments are not just beating the indexes, but also in the top half of their class in comparison with other similar investments in some reasonable time period. Family businesses can use these comparisons as part of their decision-making process to help decide whether or not to hold a particular investment.
In wealth management, compared to the results of an appropriate index or benchmark can help family businesses make smarter choices with their money. Owners should ask their advisor to compare the results of important benchmark. Let’s be realistic, there are always going to exceed standards. But, reasonably expect to be close or better than the basic indices of long periods of time, say 3-5 years.
Instead of waiting until their personal finances as Xerox’s nosedive, not owners need to take action now, talk with their advisers, and start applying the benchmarking of their financial strategy.