Lane Ford has a heart for family-run businesses.
Ford Consulting, Mr. Ford’s new venture, is designed to solve the relational conflicts that can stop a family business in its tracks.
He worked for 10 years as a financial adviser before earning his master’s in divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary. Mr. Lane then served for seven years as CFO for his father-in-law’s business, Richardson Electric.
All institutions consist of a chain of relationships at their core, said Larry Catlett, managing principal for Nashville Capital Corp., where Mr. Ford worked before he pursued a seminary degree.
“A lot of times, family member squabbles have something to do with money,” said Mr. Catlett, “Lane’s able to bridge that gap between the financial side and counseling side.”
The idea for his new business came from his time as a leader of Intersect Forum, a roundtable that brings church leaders and family business owners together to “balance organizational productivity and healthy relationships,” according to the group’s website.
He found that family-run enterprises “can be great, and they can be fraught with relational issues between different generations,” issues that can often be solved with proper communication.
“There are surprising parallels between church organizations and family business organizations,” Mr. Ford said. “The first generation wants to take less risk, but the second generation is more risk-oriented, so there can be conflict there.”
The Rev. Bill Boyd, senior pastor of All Saints Church in Austin, Texas, and participant in Intersect Forum, brought in Mr. Ford as part of a consulting team at his church.
Organizational success has more to do with listening, structure and governance, and less to do with whether a group is for-profit or non-profit, Mr. Boyd said.
“Lane is able to understand a for-profit mentality,” Mr. Boyd said. “He’s also able to understand a not-for-profit mentality, and how those things are similar and how those two things are different.”
Mr. Ford has also given less formalized counseling to executives in the Chattanooga area through Peer Roundtables, a CreateHere program established for local CEOs to confidentially discuss business.
Andrew Kean, president and COO of Rock City, said that Mr. Ford’s approach derives from his experience in business and counseling gives him a unique perspective.
“It’s helped me, and it’s a really confidential setting, and I think what’s been neat has been to have a guide like Lane to keep us on track as we work through it,” Mr. Kean said.