Dirty Secrets of Small Business
We all know couples where it’s evident who wears the pants in the relationship. Other couples have more of a shared power concept going on. So which one is right if you and your life partner are also business partners? Should one of you be the boss? Should you share the boss duties?
Have you ever not liked going to work because of the people you work with? Perhaps there is tension at work between you and a colleague where you just can’t get along on a regular basis. Maybe you disagree on the direction of the company or it could simply be you don’t like how they do certain things. What do you do when this person is related to you? What do you do if this person you can’t work with any more is your brother?
One of the areas we specialize in for our business coaching is helping family businesses transition to the next generation. One of the biggest gating items for a transition of any business, is the current owner deciding when it’s time to hang things up and move on to the next phase of their life. Sometimes the current owner is the last person to realize it’s time for them to move on. Why is this the case and how can that process be accelerated?
Today we were joined on the show by Sherry and Dan Jones. They were clients of ours when they owned their franchise business Seniors Helping Seniors. We not only helped them grow their business but we also helped them with a successful exit of their business.
Today we were joined on the show by business owners John and Terri Sonnhalter. Oh yeah, they also happen to be Adam’s parents! They shared with us their 40+ year journey of working together in a business as spouses. We heard from John a few years ago when he appeared on our show back in January 2020 (see below for a link to that show). But this time, Terri got a chance to share her side of the story!
So do you work with family in your business? Or maybe it’s friends who are like family. Or both. Are you good at leaving the personal stuff at the door when you come into work every day? Not sure what that looks like? Well today’s show is for you!
Does the idea of working with your spouse excite or scare you? This thought of, “maybe my spouse/significant other can help with this,” is one that goes through most business owners minds at some point. It’s a perfectly natural question, especially in today’s world where it is getting tougher and tougher to find good people.
For those unfamiliar with the term “third rail” we’ve including a link below talking about it’s definition in politics. The metaphor comes from the high-voltage third rail in some electric railway systems. Touching that third rail often results in electrocution so most folks don’t live to tell about it.
Unfortunately many folks starting out in business make the often fatal mistake of hiring family and friends first instead of last. Now this may seem counterintuitive to many folks, especially those who know us well since we usually espouse the importance of Know Like Trust when building your business. But just because it might be “easier” to start with family and friends, doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for your business.
This is part 2 of our topic on Family Business Issues for when is it time for someone to leave. We covered several questions in part 1 and tonight we addressed several more questions.