Five Children and the Future of Stovin Advertising
When I think about the long-term future of Stovin Advertising, I don’t just think about where the business will be next year. I think about what it could become over several decades and, potentially, across generations.
One of my personal hopes is to have five children with my girlfriends and, if they eventually want to, give those children the opportunity to become part of Stovin Advertising.
Building a Family Business
There is something special about building a business that can outlive its founder. My ambition is for Stovin Advertising to become a genuine family business with knowledge, experience and responsibility gradually passed from one generation to the next.
As the children grow up, they could learn about entrepreneurship and the different skills involved in running a modern marketing agency. That might include:
- SEO and search marketing
- Web design and development
- Graphic design and branding
- Photography and content creation
- Social media and digital advertising
- Sales and client relationships
- Business management and finance
They wouldn’t all have to do the same job. One might become an excellent designer while another specialises in SEO. Someone else might enjoy managing clients or running the financial side of the company.
Opportunity, Not Obligation
Having children wouldn’t guarantee that they would want to work for Stovin Advertising, and I wouldn’t want their futures decided for them.
The goal would be to create an opportunity.
If they developed different ambitions, they should be free to pursue them. But if one or more of them became passionate about marketing and wanted to continue what their father started, there would already be a business and a body of knowledge for them to build upon.
Thinking in Generations
A lot of business planning concentrates on the next month, quarter or financial year. A family business can encourage a much longer perspective.
Instead of asking only, “How much can Stovin Advertising make today?”, I can also ask:
“What kind of company could I build today that might still have value to my children decades from now?”
That changes the objective. Reputation matters. Client relationships matter. Skills matter. A recognisable brand matters. Building something sustainable becomes more important than chasing every short-term opportunity.
The Stovin Legacy
My ambition is ultimately bigger than simply earning money from marketing.
I want to build Stovin Advertising into an established agency capable of supporting a family and creating opportunities for the next generation.
Perhaps one day I’ll be able to sit back and watch my children bring their own ideas, technology and creativity into the company.
I may start the business, but they could eventually take it somewhere I never imagined.
Build the business. Build the family. Give the next generation the opportunity to build the future.
