How to Make a Family Business Work

I work for a family business as the bookkeeper, and some days it can be hard when you work with people you are related to and even harder when you also live with them.

You have to set up some boundaries pretty well from day one or this business will spiral into a slow death as customers do not need to hear sibling rivalry or grown women turning back into little kids on a job site.

I know this sounds funny, but believe me it can happen to even the most professional of people unless there are guidelines in place to make it work from the start.

If relatives are working in the company then each one should be in a position that they are suited for.  If one is much better dealing with customers than the other, then this person should be in charge of that part.  This is a good place to start, placing them in the right position in the company.

Addressing Co-Workers
Really you are all co-workers but it can get heated fast if you are also related.  Example:  My sister has an electrical contracting business.  My daughter works for her (so that would be her niece) and her own daughter works for her.  Both are qualified electricians, aged 25 and 29.



They were working on a job in a large house.  My sister was also working with them and they were all a floor apart.  They have “mike” phones to keep in touch and all was going well until there was a difference of opinion on how something should be done.  This happens, but today it got out of hand.

My sister and her daughter started to argue.  My sister made the mistake of reverting back to `mum `and treating her daughter like a little kid and the daughter yelled back “mum” in a whiny voice as if she was a little kid.  So, this does not look good to a customer, they do not need to hear family dynamics and drama.

So, after the job was done a family meeting was called and it was decided that they would all call each other by their first names on the job site.  That meant daughter Sarah was to address mum now as Karen.  It was hard at first, but this is a more professional response.

So, basically after hours they go back to mum and daughter, and during working hours they call each other by their first name.

By doing that they were able to keep `family dynamics` out of the equation.  It is so easy to slip into the role of the parent or the sibling.  But if each person is in the best position for them, it is much easier to do.

Fresh Ideas to Keep Business Healthy
It has taken a couple of years, but Karen (business owner) has learned to listen to the ideas of her employees who just happen to be her niece and daughter.  They have fresh ideas from recently going to school and fresh input can keep a business alive.

They do a lot of lighting design and the younger girls are very talented at that part of the business and how to lay it out in a home.  So Karen finally let them have more freedom to design with the customer and stopped looking at them as the little kids she remembers.

She said she has to bite her tongue and remember that her daughter is a grown and very talented electrician now, not a 5 year old and there will always be a difference of opinion.  It is how you react to it that needs to be worked on.

I don`t get as involved as I am in the office, but I have to watch myself too.  I am not immune to barking out orders to Karen (business owner) because she is actually my baby sister.  Since I do the books I will give her my opinion on money issues, and if she doesn`t agree with me, I have had to learn to simply let it go as it is her business.

She asked for my opinion on replacing one of the trucks.  I thought it was not the right time, and she went out and got one anyways.  My first response was as a sister, but after that I thought she asked for my opinion not my permission.  So, I have been there for 8 years now and we have it all figured out for the most part.

It is so easy to slide into the role that you play in the family even when you are all grown up.  I was big sister for years, so now I am working for her.    So, as a family owned business that includes siblings, daughters and cousins it can be a bit close.  The rule is to always look professional to the customer.  If there are any grievances, they are to be brought up at the weekly meetings we have now or later out of view and sight of the customer.

As we all now live in our own homes that has made it easier.  But if you are going to start up a company with relatives, you need everything laid out in black and white.  There is much more at risk when you are related.   If you don`t have the same opinions as to where the business is headed then this can be a double whammy since you are also related.

You not only risk arguments that naturally occur when working as co-workers but you risk family split ups too as things can get heated.

Also considered getting professional help if you are looking for family business succession planning so the company will thrive.

Escape Plan

Director: Mikael Håfström

Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, 50 Cent

In Escape Plan Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) is imprisoned in Bendwater Federal Penitentiary in Colorado. After a fight in the prison yard of the facility, he is sent to the Secure Housing Unit, or solitary confinement. This is not a problem for him, as he quickly escapes from both solitary and the prison itself.

This is because Breslin is a professional at escaping from prison. He has written the book on it - literally, the book is called "Compromising Correctional Institutional Security." His company, Breslin Clark, in which he is a partner, is hired by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to find weaknesses in their maximum security holding facilities. Ray can see the weaknesses in any system, and has a mind good at solving puzzles. He is provided assistance by his partner in the firm, Lester Clark (Vincent D'Onofrio), Abigail Ross (Amy Ryan) and techno-thug Hush (50 Cent).

A lawyer for the Central Intelligence Agency, Jessica Miller (Caitriona Balfe), wants to hire Ray's firm for an unusual job. So unusual that the CIA are willing to pay double his firm's normal fee. Since the practice of extraordinary rendition - which was the process of abducting and transference of suspects to foreign countries to be held or interrogated - was ceased, the CIA has had a problem with what to do with the sort of people they would rather disappear off the grid.[1] Consequently, they have set up a pilot prison, "The Tomb," run by a commercial enterprise to hold these individuals. Before the plan goes into full operation, they want to ensure that the prison actually is escape proof, and want to hire Ray to test it.

Shortly after Breslin is taken to the prison, by the thuggish Drake (Vinnie Jones), he discovers that things are not as expected. The prison warden is actually someone called Hobbes (Jim Caviezel) and not the man Ray was expecting. As a result, his get out of jail free plan does not work. The prison is a comprised of glass walled and floored cells, as well as break and dining areas. The guards are heavily armed and wear all black uniforms covering every inch of them, with protection in certain critical places, as well as a mask that hides their faces. The prisoners are under surveillance all the time, and are treated brutishly by the guards.

It appears that Ray has been set up, and instead of testing the prison to see if it is escape proof, someone wants him to stay there permanently. He has never had his skills tested to this limit before. Shortly after entering, he meets fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), and the two start planning to escape from the Tomb.

This is the first real film to have two of the biggest action stars from the 80s and 90s properly appearing with each other. Although both were in The Expendables 2, that film was definitely skewed towards Stallone. Both are effective in their roles, with a lot of, often intelligent, dialogue along with their more typical action man portrayals. "You don't look that smart" says Rottmayer, "Neither do you" replies Breslin.

There is a classic Schwarzenegger machine gun scene, of a type familiar to those who have seen many of his old films. The prison guards are pretty standard minions, who appear to have graduated from the Imperial Stromtrooper Marksmanship Academy,[2] with the exception of Drake; Vinnie Jones doing one of his standard thugs. Caviezel's portrayal of the rather creepy Warden Hobbes with his overly fastidious mannerisms is pretty good; outside the two main stars, Drake and Hobbes are the two most important characters, and they both do good, if rather different, bad guy roles. Stallone and Schwarzenegger's characters interact well with each other; if they hadn't, this film would have fallen pretty flat. The rest of Breslin's team is mostly seen in interludes as they try and find where he has disappeared to. Escape Plan is a good action film, with surprisingly little bloodshed in it and a couple of nice plot twists, which finally and properly brings these two action legends together.