Family business? Avoid the traps!
The idea of a family business sounds great at first, but
unfortunately it can have many pitfalls if you don't know what to look out for.
In such a situation, it's easy to work much more than is normal and expect the
same of others, to share tasks unevenly and to let work creep into every moment
of your day.
Fortunately, this does not necessarily have to be the case. With a little awareness, you can build a family business without upsetting the delicate work-life balance.
What causes the imbalance?
For most businesses, it is true
that it takes a lot of work and sacrifice in the beginning. In a family
business, the extra motivation is that everyone feels ownership of the
business, so everyone tries to do their best to make it work. But this can
quickly lead to chaos and burnout.
To avoid this, you'll need a few
rules:
- Let there be boundaries!
Let not
every conversation, every thought, be about business! Have the time and
space to discuss the topic, but don't force the issue. Of course, it's not
forbidden to exchange a few sentences about something topical, but don't
let work permeate your everyday life.
- Let everyone play their
part! In
a family business, it is common that everyone does everything. This can be
very useful in the context of being able to replace each other when
needed, but it's not good in the sense that no one really knows what
they're doing, everyone is getting involved, so information can get lost,
processes can get stuck and chaos can quickly ensue. It's good to have a
role for everyone, and it's also good to define in advance who can replace
who if necessary.
- Don't bury conflicts! Just as work can
interfere with family life if you're not careful, family relationships
also can interfere with work and make it difficult to resolve disputes.
Every family has its dominant people, but it's by no means certain that
these same people will be the most productive in business - but can the
others stand up to them enough on business issues, or will they accept
their rightness as usual? Obviously, the latter will eventually have a
detrimental effect on your business, but these patterns are harder to
discard than you might think.
- Do not employ
incompetent people! Just
look around: how many times do you see a relative with no relevant
qualifications or experience being hired as a favour to the family
company, who at best does nothing and at worst even damages the company?
It is very difficult to say no to family, but let's separate work and
private life as much as possible!
- Have succession
plan! We
don't like to think about it, but we have to: no one lives forever, and we
have seen many family businesses that were previously well run go under in
the struggle to decide who will take over. Everything is so much simpler
when it is laid down in advance.
The family business is unstable
ground: it is very difficult to run it without damaging the company or family
relationships. The only way to do this effectively is to have rules in place
from the start that everyone sticks to. Learn from others' mistakes, avoid the typical
pitfalls and you can build a truly valuable family business!