I am working with two businesses right now that have family members involved in the day to day company operations.  One is the more traditional style with a single family member owning/controlling the company and their family member working in the company.  In the other situation the family members are partners (equals) in the business with no majority ownership control by any party. 

Partnerships with anyone can be very challenging and then adding the additional element of family can make day to day operations very rocky at times.  I don’t know about your family but my siblings and I are all very different.  Call it middle child syndrome or moving every 3 years as a military brat, but my brother, sister and I are all very different people.  Different is good when we meet a few times a year but every day workings would be a challenge.

What I have seen the most significant challenge in a partnership is control.  You see it on show Shark Tank where investors are always trying to get 51% of the company.  Control is a very sensitive thing and the power that goes with it can make or break the success of the company.

In my view just because someone has ownership control doesn’t mean that they have to drag it around like a bat.   Owing stock and managing a company for profit are two very different skill sets.  The most successful businesses have learned that there is a difference between an owner, coach and players.  Each have a significant role in the success of the franchise, but they cannot cross over the line of control. 

We cannot be everything to everyone and we all have strengths and weaknesses.  My business management philosophy is to hire people where their strength is my weakness.  I am generally an operationally driven person and run off the world of logic.  Not the most romantic person out there and yet I married a women who is my complete opposite.  Successful partnerships are about how the team is doing, not the individual.

Having family in the business is tough regardless of who has control.  The relationships often start off as a great idea when they were sitting around a fire drinking wine after a holiday dinner.  Some work very well but be aware that partnerships are tough and family makes it even tougher.  

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 11:20 am and is filed under Sell Your Business, Professional Advice, Exit Stories, Exit and Answers, Emotional Selling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.