Putting your name on your business changes things

A name is the first asset presented to us when we come into this world so it's natural to want to protect that name, whether as an individual or as a business.

Did you know that business decisions are strongly influenced by psychology? Take shopping for instance – many people go on a shopping spree when they are upset to make themselves feel better. I try to stay away from shop window displays when I’m feeling down or really bored because I often make irrational decisions that I eventually regret.

Now let’s imagine you are a successful, multi-talented person who runs a popular blog and owns a restaurant and a fashion line. Someone comes along and says they will buy your blog and keep your name on it, but they will take over from now on. Perhaps they will even pay you to write the blog occasionally, but still it would not be yours any more. Because it reflects your thoughts, the fact that you feel like it is your baby, your pride and joy, and most importantly because it carries your name, how would you feel about someone else representing it and therefore owning your name? While some might go ahead with the deal, others might make a more personal decision.

A name is the first asset presented to us when we come into this world, and that is why many take it very personally when someone else steals our identity for an online screen name, or misrepresents our name in any way. We might feel as though part of us has been stolen, and, naturally, we all want to protect our identity.

But psychology goes beyond that.

I was recently discussing the lack of family-owned initial public offerings on the UAE markets with an acquaintance. Since she comes from a family that owns a business group in the UAE under the family name, I asked if they had ever considered launching an IPO.

She said they would not, and the reason was they did not want anyone else to own a part of their name – their legacy – and that a family’s business should be kept in the family. She also said that because of the lack of readiness and commonality of this activity in the market, and easy financing, many families that own major businesses are not involved in such activities.

What I found most interesting was that she kept stressing the importance of the family name’s ownership. She said that maybe if the business did not carry the family name, then a different decision might be made. She added that if the company did go ahead and launch an IPO, then the stakeholder would have a part of their name – their pride – and perhaps they would not represent it properly if they owned a big share of it in the future.

“When your family’s name is at stake, you will work harder at your business to maintain its position in the market,” she added.

After our conversation, I paid more attention to the matter and found that in this region my friend’s reaction was not unusual. A family name is something to be proud of, something that must be represented properly and in a good manner. We all think twice sometimes before doing something because we carry our family’s name, and we would not want to shame it in any way. This is something that is deeply embedded within us and affects every aspect of our lives, including the kind of business activities we engage in.

This rationale could even have an effect on small businesses. A friend of mine wanted to launch a fashion line that would carry her family name. Because of the contemporary styles that she designs and the fact they could be worn with revealing clothing, her family members urged her not to use the family’s last name and go with her first name or a different name instead.

Perhaps the idea of IPOs is still nascent in our market in comparison to markets in the West, but many western family businesses remain private. One example is SC Johnson & Sons, which has a revenue of US$9 billion and manufactures many household products such as Windex, Pledge and Raid. Another is Mars, with a revenue of $28bn, which operates in different segments such as confectionery and beverages, and is probably best known for its Mars chocolate bar.

We cannot deny that psychology has a huge impact on many decisions that we make, especially in business. But when it involves our name, we would probably think twice. Perhaps if all circumstances were in our favour, we might not think as hard.

Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer based in Abu Dhabi. Follow her on Twitter: @manar_alhinai

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