The secret of long-lasting businesses

Company life expectancies are reducing - dramatically. One secret of those that live longest? They focus their energies on the opposite end of the age spectrum…

The average lifespan of a US S&P 500 company has dropped by 80% in the last 80 years - from 67 years to 15 (the likes of Microsoft and Nike are now senior citizens). And in the last 30 years, 76% of UK FTSE 100 companies have… well, vanished. 

But what about those that have remained successful for more than 100 years? A study by Harvard Business Review showed they have two main attributes:

1. A stable core: an unchanging central purpose, and leaders with tenures over 10 years

2. A disruptive edge: bringing in outside expertise and seeking to learn from other sectors

Ok, good to know, but not that surprising. Here’s a more interesting morsel.

Many of the organizations that stay in the game for more than a century prioritise engaging with society - and specifically on reaching out to children.

But these aren’t only businesses in kid-friendly areas like video games or sports. They run the gamut from hospitality, to manufacturing, to financial services.

Could one of your biggest risks of failure and irrelevance come from forgetting to engage with kids? Perhaps.

It's probably worth figuring out how to inject more play into your work… 🛝

P.S. Accordingly to lawyer Mark Pierce, who put together this wonderful infographic of the world’s long-lasting companies, the oldest business on planet Earth is a Japanese construction firm called Kongō Gumi. It’s been in operation since 578 (no, I didn’t miss a ‘1’ from the front). Talk about staying in the game…