How to Build a Company That Lasts Forever

 BY Leigh Buchanan 

1. Narrow your horizons.
Sometimes it is good if you stick to your core competence, and then one day, if you have the patience, there is a topic where you can suddenly jump on," says Christopher Mennekes, CEO of Mennekes. That word, patience, rarely comes up when you talk to American business owners. Granted, waiting 80 years before testing new waters may sound unacceptably passive to CEOs wired for action. But at a time when technological change mercilessly strikes down first movers, patience is an appealingly simple risk-mitigation strategy.

2. Go global fast. Go global hard.
Globalization is the future. It is also a skill that requires development. German mid-size companies have had a lot of practice and  are very good at it. This is less common  in US, where more than half of small to midsize companies have no sales or operations outside North America, according to a study by the National Center for the Middle Market.

3. Innovate incrementally and internally.
"Often, innovation is defined as something that changes a market," says Klais. "But to me, it is where you individually develop something for your customer. It may be a very, very small detail. But it shows understanding and respect."
 Competitors find it harder to copy your thing if they must also copy the thing that makes your thing. At the same time, it's easier to maintain equipment you've designed yourself and to ensure quality when you make your own materials. Vertical integration is all about control.
 
4. Go the extra mile for customers.
Be generous with pre- and post-sales consultations and services. It will cheerfully customize and ship a single tiny part or manufacture discontinued items for customers with aging machinery. 

5. Run your business as if you expect it to live forever.
The lure of entrepreneurship may ultimately benefit succession. It is  imperative for the potential family or community business. young successors to launch start-ups after university, then return after a few years to run them.  

Responsibility.That word came up again and again. Leadership, by contrast, they largely dismissed as an abstraction. "I think leadership is a very, very, very strong word," says Klais,  Mittelstand CEOs "I see it more as a responsibility issue.