Let’s then extend this metaphor to our family business, which is in and of itself a creature that exists and interacts with others in the landscape of society and the market.

 

Starting a business is a busy endeavour, and running it even more so. It is therefore not surprising that somewhere along the line, the owners can find themselves looking up and realising that the enterprise is now a very different flower from the seed they once planted, perhaps several years ago.

 

All of a sudden, a business that may have started out as a small shop or service among three siblings or cousins, now employs more than a dozen employees and offers a broader service or an expanded range of products than it once did.

 

The key concept here is to keep things professional without getting caught up in procedures, red tape and burdensome processes that can turn a successful snappy day-to-day operation into a stressful working environment – a certain recipe for quick decline.

 

Achieving this depends on the solidity of your business structure. Managing ten employees is not the same as managing fifty, and systems and roles need to be clearly defined to keep things both fair and efficient. Expectations should be made clear across the board, and these should be built around not only performance but also behaviour and work ethic.

 

Tapping into the talents of the different individuals working in your family business is essential here. Having an excellent business idea or the perfect sales technique does not mean that your people skills extend to management.

 

The wisdom that once led to the birth of your successful business needs to extend to the acknowledgement that there may be other members who might be more suited to this task. Everyone should be able to work with the skill sets they have honed. The company can only profit from putting to use the vast variety of talents a family business can come with.

 

This brings the argument to the next point. Working with family can bring to the enterprise an added layer of stress. It can be far more awkward and uncomfortable to have difficult conversations about somebody’s performance or behaviour if you are expected to sit with them for Sunday lunch or Friday night dinner, and ignoring or avoiding these conversations is not a choice.

 

When you are running a family business you have to remember that it is, in fact, a business first and foremost, and it is important to acknowledge that letting people get away with things that they shouldn’t will not only lead to problems in the enterprise, but also to other undesirable sentiments like resentment, which will do absolutely nothing for the family relationship.

 

Issues should be addressed the moment they arise, before they build into something far more entrenched and difficult to deal with. Whether or not you are sitting in front of a family member, being criticised by a manager is more often than not a vulnerable situation for an employee, and it is far more likely that they will feel as though they are being attacked if they have been displaying behaviours for a long time unchecked. It can feel as though they are being criticised for something that seemed fine before and that nobody else had ever complained about. As the saying goes, one must nip it in the bud.

 

Among the more difficult conversations and discussions that must be had as the business and the family continue to grow and evolve is the division of responsibility, the hierarchy of roles, and the compensation due for each of these.

Because family businesses tend to start out small, they are often built on the foundations of equality – equal responsibility and equal shares. However, when this grows into a larger working environment, a hierarchy inevitably develops, and the idea that everyone working for the business should have equal pay and equal responsibility is deeply flawed.

 

Equally flawed is the notion that everyone in the family should have a place in the business. It is important to make sure that while nobody feels left out, this is not done to the detriment of the enterprise that has grown thanks to the hard work of your ancestors. Jobs should be given based on skills or experience, not birth order or personal preference. This also means that, difficult though it may be, if nobody in the family has appropriate management skills, hiring someone from outside the family is as valid a consideration as any.

 

It is also important not to overlook the importance of positive business practices that can most often be ignored in an enterprise run among family members. Praise and recognition are an important part of feeling like a valued employee, as well as being a stellar incentive for continued effort and productivity. Just because it is your cousin or your sibling who made that amazing sale last week, it doesn’t mean that it should go unrewarded or unnoticed. Never assume that people automatically understand or see your recognition and acknowledgement. As with the negatives, make the positives plain.

 

At the end of the day, being part of a family business should be a positive and wholesome experience. Although working with family can be complicated, the family business provides a unique environment for growth and personal identification with the workplace, as well as a deep appreciation for the people who started the endeavour.

 

Growing your family business takes a lot of hard work and can be very challenging at times, but there are few paths as rewarding, and it is important to make the best of every new opportunity and evolve with the times. This, among other things, will ensure that in the dynamic landscape of society, your business will thrive and survive, and so will you.