FEMSA's Simple Formula for Success: Doing Things Right for a Long Time

As I was graduating college in the mid-2000s, I attended a conference at my university Tec de Monterrey. It was a conference given by José Antonio Fernandez, CEO of FEMSA. FEMSA is one of the most influential companies in our state and Mexico. They have successfully created a range of businesses. As a holding, they have evolved quite a bit since its founding as a brewery in the late 1800s. There was a lot of good advice from Mr. Fernandez at that conference, but I remember one very particular thing he said when asked about why FEMSA has been successful:

"We have been doing things right, consistently... for a long time."

FEMSA's formula for success was quite simple. As entrepreneurs or executives in any company, we usually want to find a magic formula to stand out from the competition or to weather thunderous market conditions. But sometimes, doing the obvious things are better. "Obvious" is different to everyone, but from the outside, I can see that FEMSA has been a values-driven company for a long time. It has created a long-lasting and impactful culture, very much engrained by one of its leaders in the 20th century: Eugenio Garza Sada.

"Doing things right" means diversifying business units and sources of income. It means training employees to become better professionals, regardless of whether they continue with you throughout their careers. It means getting involved with the communities of which they are part. It means not giving in to corrupt practices to do business. And it means operating with a long-term vision.

Recently, FEMSA announced they are leaving all their investments in the beer business, which was once the heart, soul, and origin. Now, they are transitioning into retail, pharmaceutical, and financial services businesses, among others. An evolution like that takes a lot of "Doing things right for a very long time," I am very hopeful about what a company like FEMSA can do in these new markets to bring better products and services.