CMR ENTREPRENEURIAL GROUPS - Strategic Review
CMR was created to assist entrepreneurial and proactive executives. The aim was to provide a platform enabling dynamic executives to develop their business and careers in concert with CMR’s resource base along with other CMR executives as appropriate, to the benefit of all concerned. In those earlier years, most of CMR’s executive members were highly proactive in developing client business – they knew it was the only way to be successful in what were then, recessionary times. That was before the Internet and general boom economic conditions made making money a less arduous task. There is no question that the general level of proactive endeavour in more recent years has declined, with more people ‘expecting’ things to happen rather than making them happen. Tougher times are now coming back with a vengeance and that thought process has to be reversed if we are to realise the quite considerable potential we have as a group of highly experienced senior executives.
The recent announcement of CMR’s changing structure, including moving towards a “not-for-profit organisation”, marks the beginning of a transformation into becoming a more thrusting, entrepreneurial company, more suited to the challenging times ahead. As a result we are changing the internal CMR fee-sharing structure, to give a much higher share to those who take a proactive role in developing CMR's overall business. We will also provide further encouragement to CMR executive members to establish and manage businesses, using the CMR resource umbrella, for their own benefit and for CMR members generally.
We have already taken the step of increasing the share that executive members get from 70% to 75%, meaning that those who also bring in the business will now receive 85% of client fees. The CMR share, which pays for finance & administration, has been reduced by 5% to now only 7.5%.
In moving ahead, we will further increase member's share up to a max of 92.5% to encourage the establishment of entrepreneurial businesses within the CMR organisation - creating businesses within a business. In funding situations, this increases further to 93.25% if a member or group introduces the investor (by receiving the 10% off-the-top investor intro share).
Already, CMR has separate business groups and regional /country operations, and Affinity Groups. Each one of these is capable of being managed and grown as a separate business, with one or more CMR executives driving the process. CMR members directly involved will be able to share up to 87.5% to 92.5% of client fees received. This will be achieved by awarding 7.5% on top of the 85% that already goes to executives introducing and working on client projects. This effectively already happens with CMR Regions, where 2.5% goes to the Regional Director, and 5% goes to CMR direct marketing (mainly Google ads). This arrangement will continue to apply to CMR Country and Regional operations which manage normal CMR business in each territory and handle most 'automatic' incoming business from direct client business, CMR advertising, and from CMR’s Alliances.
CMR Business Groups & Affinity Groups will need to provide their own marketing costs (if they deem it necessary) from the 92.5% of revenue they receive. Financial administration will be provided by CMR from its 7.5% allocation (all invoicing and accounting will be through CMR). Any special permits, licences, insurance or other expenditure not normally provided by CMR, will also have to be found by the Group itself. Groups will also have to be aware of their taxation liabilities.
The objective is to make CMR the place entrepreneurial executives can develop and grow their own business, whilst adhering to CMR's ethical standards and protecting the CMR brand. This process will be competitive and non-exclusive, which means that CMR members can decide if they want to cooperate with other members, or start their own group. There are limitations to protect CMR's reputation and to avoid confusing clients, so every new group within CMR must be approved and is subject to subsequent review by the CMR Board, whose decision is always final. For approved, included businesses it will be possible for the members involved to form incorporated companies - which means they can build long-term equity in the businesses they create and build. The CMR Board will always try to facilitate business creation and growth, provided of course that it is consistent with CMR's principles and ethical standards. One key requirement is that each group must be always be open to receiving new members, although the degree of involvement will be determined by the group's management, subject to review by CMR's Board. This need to be reasonably inclusive is most important - it is to stop things becoming too cliquey and to encourage new executives to join CMR and become proactively involved. All members starting or managing a group must accept the above principles.
The range of sub-businesses available is considerable (see further below for details):
CMR country operations – for all countries except the UK. Running a CMR Country means developing/ managing the client base, and managing existing and new members (CMR Centre will continue normal global recruitment advertising). Up to 87.5% of client revenues will be available for the Country Team.
CMR regional operations – Whilst we would expect most countries to be managed by just one CMR Team, it is possible within large countries, for there to be separate regional teams covering specific geographic areas. Again, up to 87.5% of client revenues will be available for each Team.
CMR Special Business Groups – these are groups specialising in providing particular services or skills - quite probably working in conjunction with CMR country/ regional operations and Affinity Groups. These groups can be very important in allowing CMR executives to handle clients where special skills and experience are needed. See below for more details. CMR Special Business Groups will have up to 92.5% of client fees.
CMR Affinity Groups – these are groups formed to coordinate CMR operations in specific sectors, probably, but not exclusively by industry groups; e.g. CMR Engineering Group - marketing their industry skills in conjunction with other CMR resources (e.g. funding) into engineering companies. CMR Affinity Groups can be global or on a country-by-country basis. A non-exhaustive list of possible Affinity Groups is shown below. CMR Affinity Groups will have up to 92.5% of client fees.
In making these changes, we do not want to be overly prescriptive in saying how it should be done, apart from saying that all participants must sign-up to CMR's ethical standards and also not to do or allow anything to happen that could damage the CMR brand. As a generality, no new Business Group will be approved unless it comprises at least three CMR members. With the exception of UK Regions, which will remain managed as they are, with effectively exclusive rights to provide CMR UK regional operations - all other countries, areas and business activities within CMR will be open to new Business Groups being established. As we move forward on all this, there may need to be some intervention by the CMR Board to avoid clients becoming confused, etc. but the general policy will be to enable new groups to form. This is to provide vibrancy and openness in developing CMR into the future.
This will mean, for example, that a CMR executive member can decide whether to join an existing CMR Business Group, or whether to form a new one. If the latter, they will need to attract at least three members in total, and must seek CMR Board approval before commencing operations - this will not be unreasonably withheld.
The above arrangements will enable CMR executives to form businesses with other members, with almost complete flexibility on how their group is structured. It could for example, be with its own board of directors, and its own shareholders. Or it could be a sole shareholder/ director situation where the 'boss' has attracted at least two other members to work alongside. It will be a requirement that all executives involved in each Group, except for short-term externally-contracted work, must be Full/International CMR Executive Members.
All client business will be under the auspices of Cavendish Management Resources Ltd. Profits made by the included businesses will be for the benefit of those members involved. Any profits made from CMR’s 7½% will be disbursed by the Trustees - either to external charities, and/or to generally benefit CMR's executive members. So all CMR members who take the challenge of managing businesses within CMR will have the confidence of knowing that the vast majority of client revenues earned will accrue to themselves and their team, and that any small surplus remaining at CMR Centre will be applied for the common good.
By making these changes, we want to make CMR a fully inclusive and supportive organisation that will provide both for its own long-term survival and success, and also to provide those members who would like to build their own business & career future, with the facility to do so. We believe this is a unique opportunity and facility for senior executives to develop their own business, without having to start from scratch as is usual, with all the risks that entails - and with the support of a pre-existing organisation to help success to be achieved.
Below you will find a list of the possible businesses that could be formed under the above arrangements. It is not an exhaustive list, so please feel free to suggest others. If you would like to develop things further, then please email me with a brief outline of what you would like to do. When approved, you will be able to use the CMR Bulletin Board on the overall CMR Intranet (password; loop) to attract other members to join you.
LIST OF POSSIBLE CMR BUSINESSES
1) Country Businesses. At the moment all International countries (i.e. non-UK) are operated from CMR Centre. As membership in each country grows, we would want to see the establishment of country or regional management to start coordinating and growing CMR's business in each territory. A minimum of three members in the territory will be needed to start this process.
2) Special Business Groups. These are groups that provide specialist services, either independently or in conjunction with CMR Regions. The services tend to be professional services rather than the industry related services of Affinity Groups (see further below). An incomplete list of possible Special Business Groups (some of these already exist):
CMR Corporate Recovery/ Turnaround
CMR International Technology Licensing
CMR Company Sales
CMR Merger &acquisitions
CMR Catalyst Groups
CMR Progressive Company Sale Programme
CMR Cost Reduction & Financing Scheme (Self-funding Loan Scheme)
CMR X-Border Business
CMR Corporate Finance
CMR Governmental & Public Sector consultancy
3) Affinity Groups. These are groups of CMR executives, usually from a similar industry background but often from different disciplines - who group together to provide consultancy and other services to that industry, using their own combined skills base, combining with other CMR resources (e.g. funding) as appropriate. A list of possible Affinity Groups could include the following:
Advertising - Automatic Identification -Automotive - Beverages - (Alcoholic & Non-Alcoholic) - Banking - Coatings & Paint - Construction -Consumer Products - Corporate Governance Issues -Cost Reduction - Defence - CRM/Database Marketing - Distribution & Logistics - Education - Electronic Commerce - Electronics -Engineering - Environmental - Export - Finance - Finance & Accounting - Financial Services - Food & Drink - Gen. Management - Haulage & Logistics - Health & Safety - Healthcare & Biotechnology - Insurance & Risk Management - Int'l Bus.Development - IT Computing - Language Services/Document Management - Leisure & Management- Oil & Gas - Packaging & Print -Personnel & Human Resources - Pharmaceuticals - Photonics - Plastics - Production/Purchasing & Logistics -Property - Publishing & Printing - Quality Assurance - Receivables/Credit Management - Retail - Shipping & Transport - Social & Ethical Behaviour etc. -Telecommunications - Transport - Travel Industry -Treasury & International Trade Finance - UK Market Entry - Voluntary Sector