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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/740454
NOVEMBER 2016 BCBUSINESS 23 John Fluevog is puffing a little as he climbs Soames Hill, near the Sunshine Coast property where the 67-year-old finds himself spend- ing more and more time. The founder and sole owner of Fluevog Shoes is far from retired, but he's close to thinking about it. Very close. In fact, over the past few years, figuring out a way to ensure continuity of his shoe- making and retail business has been a major preoccupation—one that has led him to retain specialist advisors and make operational changes, with more to come. "If you want the com- pany to continue, you need a clearly defined strateg y that everyone understands," says Fluevog. The Vancouver-born entrepre- neur sees himself as having two pri- mary challenges in finding a way to ensure the continuity of his business, one of them having to do with the founder's particular talents and expertise. "I'm a designer foremost," explains Fluevog. Famously, back in the early 1970s, he started design- ing and making shoes that looked like no one else's. His Vancouver shops became a desti- nation for rock stars, Hol ly wooders a nd shoe lovers in general, ultimately encourag- ing Fluevog to make their lives easier by taking the shoes to them. Today he distrib- utes around the world and operates 20 Fluevog stores scattered across North America, employing about 70 people in addition to retail sales staff. With the design of the shoes such a key aspect, Fluevog has recently beefed up two components of the company. He's added managers and executives to run the business so that he can concentrate almost exclu- sively on his designer role, and he's padded his design staff, with more additions to come. The idea is that Fluevog shoes will look and perform like Fluevog shoes even in the absence of Fluevog—a concept that bothers him a little. "I'm fairly egotistical and fussy," he laughs. Still, he doesn't regard the design challenge as paramount. "The biggest issue is having my kids understand what their roles will be," he says. Two of Fluevog's children are not involved in the business while his middle son, Adrian, is currently COO and is expected to take over the reins as John Fluevog gradually decreases his involvement. To ensure that the sec- ond generation is ready, and that fam- ily dynamics remain calm, Fluevog has retained two specialists—one with a legal background, the other rooted in psychology—to counsel him. He's also put together a corporate advi- sory board and expects that it will be transformed into a more formal board of directors in years to come. "If this is to suc- ceed, we need a lot of for- ward planning," he says. So that's one of the things he's working on. Another is aided by the place on the Sunshine Coast, which helps keep him away from his offices in Gastown. "I need to let go," he says. He doesn't sound com- pletely convinced about that, but he's committed nonetheless to trying. John Fluevog's Big Shoes to Fill Bob Rennie's Golf Game Bob Rennie is 60 years old and looks several years younger, but that hasn't prevented the founder of the eponymous real estate marketing com- pany from thinking about retirement. "I have my golf game, you know," he laughs, referring to his Wing Sang art gallery, a preoccupation ensuring that he will never, ever spend time working on his short game. In Rennie's case, any handover will be gradual and fairly straightforward, he thinks, thanks to the presence of his son, Kris, who is 33 and already serving as managing director of the Rennie Group. (He also has two daughters, neither of them involved in the business.) Beyond what he describes as a father-son relation- ship with no tug of wars, Rennie thinks that Kris is the person best able to main- tain a corporate culture that is valued by the company's 52 employees. He thinks that because he's asked many of them: "Of the 52, he was the one person that they'd say could provide continuity." Rennie sees himself spending a little less time on real estate, a little more on art, with every passing year. "You can't wait till you're ready," he says of retire- ment, which means he'll begin to make some structural changes to the company, such as a team charged with ensuring that assets are retained. Then, between 65 and 70, "I'll make a change" he says. "Slow down, maybe look after select clients only. After 35 years I'm not going to change in an hour." (FLUEVOG) AMANDA SKUSE