Farmont MP is one of the leading pharmaceutical wholesalers in Montenegro — a family company founded in 2001, with wholesale of medicines, medical devices and equipment, and a retail pharmacy chain through its subsidiary Help d.o.o.
Amid strong business growth, the company found itself organizationally disordered — a logical consequence of rapid growth. It needed to continue the shift from entrepreneurial to professional management and, at the same time, to order the relationships between the founder and his three children, who all work in the business and now have families of their own.
The challenge
Business growth that organizational development hadn't kept pace with: a lack of formal structures, plans, procedures and job descriptions. Added to this was the complexity of family relationships — ever more family members involved in the business, including spouses.
Project objectives:
- Defining a strategic development plan for the company.
- Having the organization “catch up” with business growth.
- Ordering family relationships and establishing clear governance structures across all three circles (family, ownership, business).
Approach and methodology
- Diagnostics — a detailed analysis of the business: financial parameters, the structure of clients and suppliers, competition and internal processes.
- Defining strategy — working with the owners and top management on a strategic development plan for the next three years.
- Organizational design — introducing a functional model and clearly defining responsibilities at all levels.
- Implementation and evaluation — gradually introducing changes, tracking results and adjusting the strategy; defining processes and procedures.
- Family council and family constitution — establishing governance structures in the family and ownership circles.
The work drew on the “I, Entrepreneur” methodology (finding competitive advantage and positioning, alongside clear governance structures in the family and ownership) and Galbraith's “Star” model of organizational design, which links strategic goals to structure, processes, people and rewards.
The solution
- A clear strategic direction was formulated with a unique value proposition in the market.
- A functional model was introduced with departments, department heads and clear reporting lines.
- Processes and procedures within the business were defined.
- The owners and managers were educated in strategy and organizational design — so the company can keep improving on its own.
- A family council was established and a family constitution defined.
Results
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | €13,7M | €17M (+25%) |
| Net profit | €400k | €710k (+78%) |
Alongside measurable financial growth, qualitative results were achieved too: better communication and cooperation among employees and family members, a clear development vision, greater agility in responding to market opportunities, greater leadership capacity for independent strategic planning, the ability to delegate from owners to management, and clearly ordered family relationships.
An outstanding collaboration with Đorđe, who helped us establish a clear organization within our company and our family.
Key lessons
- Professionalization enables growth on healthy foundations and reduces the business's dependence on a single person.
- As a family business grows, organizational development must keep pace with business growth.
- A clearly and formally defined strategy is a precondition for serious results.
- Clearly ordered family relationships give stability to both the family and the business.
This case shows how one of Montenegro's leading pharmaceutical companies laid healthy organizational foundations and achieved significant growth — first by defining strategy and differentiating in the market, then by translating strategy into the structure and processes that ensure sustainability and flexibility over the long term.