Small Biz is Often All in the Family
This week we made a new change at Roundpeg, as my daughter, Michelle, joined our team. A recent grad, she has worked at TechPoint for several years and has local industry contacts to match her mother’s. She has good skills, my employees like her, and many of my clients have known her for years, so it seems like the perfect fit – right?
The question is – can we work together. Can I stop being her mom, and be her boss? Can I judge her performance the way I would any other new employee, or will I let the 25 year relationship we have get in the way. At the same time, will she really take this seriously? Will she take feedback from me as her boss, and not her mom? I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but I would love to hear from other small business owners who have done this successfully or unsuccessfully. I would really like to make it work.
Great post! My mom and I work together at my business and everyone always asks us how it works out. One difference with us is that she works from Florida and I work from the “home office” in Indiana. But we do attend a lot of conferences together.
There’s definitely a level of difficulty that you don’t have with other employees. But there is also a loyalty that you would never have with anyone else.
On the whole, I would say that my mother and I are much closer now that we work together on a daily basis. The hardest thing is not “talking shop” too much when the whole family is together!
Thx Tricia,
My question is: How do you keep biz conversations off the dinner table?
Congratulations Lorraine–hope it goes well for you and Michelle. You inspired my blog post this morning, so I will link instead of responding here: http://blog.thewhalehunters.com/blog/arts-of-the-big-deal/0/0/do-you-have-family-in-your-business
I worked for my family business for over ten years. It can be difficult at times, but it can also be easier in a lot of ways. There will be little fights here and there, just like between mother and daughter, but you will also be able to communicate a lot easier with your daughter versus a “regular employee.” She can partially read your mind, and you probably know her pretty well, too. The hardest part for me was listening to my dad talk, because I already knew what he was saying, what he was going to say, and the point of the conversation from the beginning. So it will take a little patience from each of you, and a little time to get used to the new role of boss and employee and figure it all out, but I think family businesses are some of the best companies out there. They care more, have more stake in it, and sons / daughters usually have the mind set of working hard so they can eventually take over and have a business of their own. (That’s after you retire rich and famous.)
Lorraine, I answered you via email but I wanted to come back and leave an answer to your question here as well. I try to keep the biz conversations off the dinner table not because we get burnt out but more because it makes other family members feel left out. We have to really be careful not to talk about it too much or everyone else gets bored! It takes a little bit of work.
Having been in business with my daughter and my son for over six years now, I continue to count it one of my greatest joys to work with them as peers and not as parent/child. Whenever I say that, they’re quick to remind me that it’s been a process, and certainly not an automatic one. While my son is comfortable talking shop any time, my daughter has chosen to set limits to work hours only for business conversations, and I’m happy to honor her request. A big temptation with entrepreneurship is to allow one’s business to consume and overshadow all aspects of life. This is particularly
Having been in business with my daughter and my son for over six years now, I continue to count it one of my greatest joys to work with them as peers and not as parent/child. However, when I say that, they’re quick to remind me that it’s been a process, and certainly not an automatic one. While my son is comfortable talking shop nearly any time, my daughter has chosen to set limits to work hours only for business conversations, and I’m happy to honor her request. A big temptation for entrepreneurs is to allow one’s business to consume and overshadow all aspects of life. This is particularly challenging in a family business, where individual energy levels and enthusiasm may not be the same for each member at any given time. Asking permission of the other person before diving into a business discussion outside of work hours might be a good practice…