In This Episode
The majority of our business coaching clients have some sort of family (or close friends who are like family) that are part of their business. And many of these business owners talk with us about bringing other family members or friends into the business. The most common are children, spouses, and siblings. Our initial reaction to this discussion is to advise our client to not do it. They are often surprised by this guidance.
We usually start with a “no” because we want to make sure that this close person is really the best person for the job. There are a lot of perceived and real negatives that come with bringing these close folks into the business. Not the least of which is that these new people have a lot of influence on the owner of the business and a lot of additional access than most other employees. This is due simply to their relationship to the owner vs. something they’ve earned.
We recognize that many owners have a dream of creating and growing a business to turn over to their kids. While this is a great idea and goal, we often pull the reigns in on our clients to slow them down and make them think long and hard about whether this is truly what’s best for the business and the family. A lot of unintended consequences come from bringing family and close friends into the business. Not the least of which is you make it difficult to get away from your business because the closest people in your life are now also in your business.
On tonight’s show we share a lot of stories of our coaching clients who have brought in and are struggling to eject family members and still keep the family together. There’s a lot of undue pressure on the owners as part of this process. But don’t worry, you’re not alone!
The post How Do You Keep the Family Together? appeared first on Dirty Secrets of Small Business.
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