Alessandro Benetton: “In the South there is the human side of the economy”

So empathy and emotion can be added values?
“Of course. This is demonstrated by the great successes of the Napoli football team. But sporting comparisons aside, it was also the management of Covid and how southern companies managed to adapt very quickly both to the digital sphere and to those trends that I define post-social networks. Post in the sense that by now knowing the limits of these great technological resources, we know that the human factor can make the difference. And here the South undoubtedly has special potential in this sense, perhaps not attributable to an immediate business model but which counts over long distances because the human side of the economy is the one that survives the most difficult challenges ».

Challenges such as those typical, for example, of family businesses. What is the recipe for successfully overcoming the generational shift?
“I think the recipe is to try to be the detonators of change. For example, I did it by founding 21 Invest with the idea of ​​investing in mid-market companies and making them grow. It was 1992 and after 30 years it is a consolidated reality with a team of 50 people divided between the offices in Treviso, Milan, Paris and Warsaw, but at the time it was a sign of discontinuity. It was wanting to do something big with my strength. The generational shift, in fact, must find new life in new ideas, technological discontinuities or business model intersecting the different generations. It is not necessary to do the same job as someone who has been at the helm of a company before you and who perhaps, as it is obvious, has designed that company around its own characteristics. Bringing a new perspective, which I describe in the book as a side view of things. And on the part of previous generations then we must recognize that we must never rely too much on the certainties of the past. We must be careful not to confuse traditions with habits that settle over time and become enemies of change ».

21 Invest brought private equity to Italy. It is a reality that currently has 25 companies in its portfolio with a consolidated turnover of 2 billion euros and a total of 10,000 employees. And among these companies there are also companies from the South.
«The southern entrepreneurial fabric has given us great satisfaction, both from a human and business point of view. I always find it difficult in some way to schematize the South, which is often described as particular with a not always positive meaning. I honestly believe it is special because it has extraordinary strengths. But the desire for revenge and to bridge the gap in employment and the economy is certainly evident throughout the South. Speaking of names and realities, the latest investment made in the South was in the Taranto In & Out, which is added to that made in 2015 in the Catania company specialized in ophthalmology Sifi. In the past, the Abruzzo Farnese Vini and the Bari-based company CartonPack have been successful cases. I would say that the creativity and the proactive force of the realities of the South, and the empathy of the people seems perfect for those who do private equity. This is because those who do private equity imagine they have to share a vision, bring added value and for this there is a special predisposition for human characteristics “.

And to sharing. In this regard, since 2016, 21 Invest has joined the Shared Value Initiative, a project launched by Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School. Tell us about it?
«The aim is to create a global community of organizations that see solving social problems as an important direction for business development. Without a doubt, social impact and business must travel at the same speed, identifying a competitive advantage in responding to the needs of society. The results achieved in the last 15 years are tangible: +5,000 employees, + 45% of average sales. 100% of the investee companies adopt a policy of controlling their energy consumption, apply principles for the conscious use of natural resources, implement social initiatives aimed at the reference communities “.

This, as also reflected in his book, changes the concept of entrepreneurship. Or maybe more than changing it, it reveals it?
«In reality, behind every entrepreneur there is always a person with his emotions. There is not only the curriculum. In this sense I remember, for example, the first times my father took me with him to the South to meet Benetton representatives and shopkeepers. I was little and I liked to observe the world of adults. And I remember very vividly the empathy, hospitality and spontaneous affection is among the most vivid memories of those years. And today, as never before, I believe that empathy is something extremely contemporary ».

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