Doing Business Internationally – Avoiding Faux Pas

As the business world grows increasingly global, it is more and more common for business partners, coworkers, and potential clients to come from drastically different backgrounds. While that is a symbol of increasing global diversity, it may also cause blunders in the workplace. Longtime international businessman Charles Bouri says that communication is so free today that it's easy to accidentally make a public gaffe, and sometimes even difficult to gauge when one has happened.

Cross-cultural communication doesn't have 8 Simple Rules, and no one can be well versed in every culture. That leads some large companies to spend a lot of money on consultants, diversity experts, and translators, and while that is a solution, it costs you the personal touch. Charles Bouri shared some of the techniques he has used with Seament, his international cement production and shipping firm:

1.  Take the time to learn the basics. If you know the background of the people you're doing business with – and you should – you can take the time to familiarize yourself with some of the better-known facets of their culture. Cultural competence isn't necessarily expected; in fact, oftentimes a misstep may be forgiven more quickly if the other party has previously seen you working hard to adhere to their cultural norms. Ignorance is far more offensive than oversight. Cultural competence is so important today that many companies consider it when making hiring decisions.

2.  Start slow. A more reserved approach is recommended in nearly every situation. Stay cool and professional, but polite, until you are able to accurately judge what the other party expects of you. Avoid colloquialisms. It's never a bad idea to speak as if you were meeting a President or foreign dignitary. If they adopt informality as time goes on, you can do the same, but it's more difficult to recover from inappropriately timed banter with a reserved person.

3.  Read your audience. You should always be taking cues from the person to whom you are speaking. If they open the conversation with informal social discussions or polite, unimportant chatter, you may assume they don't wish to dive directly into business. If, conversely, they dive right into business, it can be assumed that they don't make business decisions based on interpersonal skills, but rather prefer to let the work speak for itself.

4.  Avoid excessive gesturing. Body language can mean drastically different things in different cultures. It is for this reason that you should make an effort to be still and formal until you better understand the culture. The following are some examples: in Afghanistan, the thumbs-up signal has a connotation similar to the middle finger in the United States; In Brazil, the "Okay" symbol with the hand is likewise offensive; in parts of China, it is considered unseemly and rude to finish an entire meal.

If you are careful and do your best to read the situation, it is usually a simple enough task to avoid giving offense. Of course, it also behooves you to be understanding of the potential slip-ups of your international friends.

Family Business Advice 101: Tips For Transitioning Power To The Next Generation

It’s finally happening.  Maybe you’re ready to retire and enjoy your golden years, or perhaps you’re finally ready to hand over control to the next generation.  Either way, after years of success you’re ready to hand over the family business to the next generation.  It can be difficult to step down after decades of doing things your way, but this is something you’ve been planning on doing since your first day of business. 

Giving someone else control of your business can be stressful regardless of if you’re related or not, and some find that it’s more difficult to give up control of a family business than any other kind.  Charles Bouri and Prudence MacLeod were able to take over the family business without any problems, but that’s probably because their parents did a good job of transitioning over control.  If you’re going to be stepping down from the family business soon, make sure that you follow these tips to ensure that everything goes smoothly.

Know that things will change

When some family business owners hand over control to the next generation, they’re surprised and even a little offended when they see their children, nieces, and nephews making changes to their business.  No one you put in charge of your business is going to run things the exact same way you did, and if you want your business to succeed you wouldn’t want that way.  Businesses need to evolve with their markets, and a business that stays the same each and every year is eventually going to fall out of public favor.  Embrace the change, and be happy that the new owners are excited to be making a change.

Talk about it frequently

If you want the transition of power to go by smoothly, you need to talk about it with your family members, and talk about it often.  Honest conversations about your plans are crucial for ensuring that your employees and family members know what they need to know about the upcoming transition.  While we’re on the topic of honest conversation, we should move on to the next topic…

Be ready to defend your successor

Maybe your cousin always envisioned that they would be the one to take over the family business instead of your son.  Maybe your life partner doesn’t understand why you’re choosing one child over the other.  Either way there are going to be some people that are going to be surprised by your choice of leadership, and they’re going to demand answers about why you chose who you chose.  You don’t need to go into in-depth detail about your decisions; you just need to be prepared to answer people when they start asking questions.  A simple statement about the good qualities of your successor (good business sense, spotless work record, enthusiasm, new ideas, etc) should be enough to explain your choice.  

Business Decisions: Planning for Succession

Family businesses come in all shapes and sizes, from mom and pop car dealerships to ones like Seament, a global cement company run by founder Alex Bouri and his kids, Maurice, Mark, and Charles Bouri. Though the way they run their businesses and what they do might vary, there's one thing that all family-operated companies have in common: the decision of succession. If an owner should decide to pass the business on to his or her children, how would they even go about it?

According to FORTUNE, it starts with an exit plan. A business owner has to sit down with a financial advisor and come up with a comprehensive business succession which will detail the business owner's personal and entrepreneurial goals and resources. In this meeting, he or she will take into consideration the financial and legal stipulations of transferring the title of a business.

Advisors stress that business owners give the process due thought. After all, you only get one opportunity to make this move, so you have to be sure that it's exactly what you want.

The biggest decision you'll have to make: do I give the business away, or sell it to my child? The answer must be made based on your level of financial security. If you're secure enough to simply give it, take into consideration your limit of yearly gift tax exemptions. A financial advisor can look into these and see if you're entitled to discounts for giving the business as a gift.

Or, you could make an intra-family sale as a way to sell the business to your son or daughter, which involves selling the company's stock for an installment note in return.

With the proper advisor, the process is an easy one. The decision itself – how to go about it, and if you should allow your kin to take over your business at all – is often the hardest part.

Tips to Starting a Successful Family Business

A lot of people associate family businesses, or "Mom and Pop Shops," with small, quaint establishments like auto repair centers or corner stores. Some might be afraid to start one, despite their dreams, because they don't think it will be very profitable and it might go under rather quickly. It's entirely possible, though, to have a large-scale, profitable family business. For example, the cement distribution company Seament was started by one man named Alex Bouri and his relatively small business loan – today, it's a giant in the industry and he still runs it with his sons Mark, Maurice, and Charles Bouri. Here are some tips for family business success!

Establish a Boss

In the aforementioned case, it's fairly obvious that the father, Alex, started the business and got things going – it needs to be apparent, despite the importance of teamwork, that one person will call the shots and keep things in order. If the members of any business are too passive and afraid to take control, or too aggressive and therefore argue too often, it's difficult to be successful. Everyone should know and comply with their respective responsibilities.

Create a Business-Like Atmosphere

Despite the fact that you will be working with family members, that's no reason to behave unprofessionally – especially if you bring in outside employees. You have to be able to present yourself properly to clients and partners, so being professional all the time helps to create that illusion.

Don't Take your Work Home

When you run a business, it's easy to get caught up in it. No matter what, family comes first. Never let issues at work interfere with the personal relationships you have with your family, whether they work with you or not. No matter how lucrative your business becomes, you never want it to tear your relationships apart. Do your best to leave your business in the office, where it belongs.

New Cement Mixture Cuts Cement CO2 and Energy Footprint by 97%

Since its discovery in Antiquity people have been using cement to make buildings, pave walkways, and generally build what we know as our modern society.  Cement is one of the most abundant man-made materials on Earth, and despite the use and discovery of other strong materials cement is still used as the chief ingredient in many foundations and buildings.  Companies like Seament, founded by Alexander Bouri and now run by his sons Mark and Charles Bouri, make their fortune by trading the essential building material and cement companies in India and China are extremely profitable because of the country's population and construction boom.

Recently there has been concern over cement's impact on the environment.  A considerable amount of greenhouse gas is produced during the cement making process, since cement is such an important part of construction different organizations are trying their best to find a way to make cement more environmentally friendly.  A group of people from Drexel University have discovered a way to cut the CO2 and energy footprint of cement by 97%, and people are eager to make their cement formula the cement making standard.

The Drexel team created an alkali-activated cement based on an industrial by-product, simple slag and limestone, which doesn't require the mixture to be heated to produce.  Unlike some other environmentally friendly versions of products and manufacturing process, making this new cement mixture won't cost a lot of money.  Their cement recipe is much cheaper than the current standard composition.  Drexel estimates that the cheapness of the cement ingredients and different production method makes their mixture 40% cheaper than the standard Portland cement mixture. 

Calling Drexel's wonder mixture 100% wouldn't exactly be accurate.  Alkali-activated cement was used in the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s, and the team claims that their product is very similar to the cement formula ancient Romans used.  Regardless of the mixture's past it'll have a huge impact on the future of construction, some companies are already using the Drexel mixture for their construction projects.

What is Seabulk?

Seabulk specializes in providing bulk transportation solutions that are both cost-effective and efficient. Seabulk has worked with a variety of clients to ship and handle bulk cement through almost any port around the world. Besides cement, Seabulk also ships Seabulk is dedicated to planning, developing, constructing, and operating a system that works for your company while reducing cost. Seabulk Shipping, an international leader of bulk handling and shipping, was founded in 1976 in Piraeus, Greece. Charles Bouri has been the General Manager "Seabulk", Seament's Greek shipping company for 6 years and is dedicated to improving transportation systems around the world through Seabulk.

So, what can you expect when you use Seabulk?

Excellent Customer Service

• Fast and economical solutions to their shipping and handling requirements
• A complete turn-key operation on site
• Design and construction of land based bulk handling terminals
• International expertise of highly specialized personnel
• Cost efficient handling at destination

Unique and Personalized Services

Besides excellent customer service, Seabulk also offers time chartering of vessels as well as time chartering management. They also offer chartering broker services, contracts of affreightments, and purchase and sale of ships.

These are just a few of the various reasons that Seament uses Seabulk as their shipping company. Besides the benefits mentioned above such as excellent customer service and unique and personal services, they also offer the highest quality fleets used for shipment.