What a holding company actually does all day

“So what does Tigernmas actually do?” It’s a fair question, and we hear it often. A holding company sounds either very grand or very vague. In our case it’s neither. It’s a job with a surprisingly concrete list of tasks.

1. Deciding what to build

The most important thing a holding does is choose. Which ideas deserve a brand of their own? Which markets do we understand well enough to serve properly? Which opportunities, however tempting, should we let pass? Most of our strategic work is saying no, carefully, so that we can say yes properly.

2. Providing capital, patiently

Young businesses need money before they make money. We provide it, and just as importantly, we provide it without a countdown. There’s no fund that has to return its capital in seven years, so a brand can grow at the pace its customers set.

3. Running the shared services

Every brand needs accounting, contracts, IT, data protection and marketing support. None of them should have to build all of that alone. We run these services centrally, so a new brand can spend its first year on customers rather than on paperwork.

Most of our strategic work is saying no, carefully, so that we can say yes properly.

4. Being someone to think with

The people running our brands make their own decisions. But it helps to have someone to think out loud with, someone who has seen similar problems before and will ask the uncomfortable question. That’s our role: advise, challenge, support. Not micromanage.

5. Keeping the standards

Finally, a holding looks after the things all its brands have in common: how customers are treated, how partners are paid, how data is protected. Our five principles aren’t decoration. They’re the checklist we use.

Is it glamorous? Rarely. Is it useful? We think so, and on a good day, so do our brands.