I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs – first my father had a construction company and my mother was working with him. When it wasn’t doing so well, my mother, an excellent cook, learned how to make candies and truffles and started selling it out of our living room, and my father soon closed the construction business to work with her. It started as an informal business in 1983, and today, in addition to manufacturing and selling candies and gifts they have two Cafes and they offer a variety of salty and dessert products. After I graduated from college, my parents, who were about to open the second store, invited me to join the company and run that store. I accepted their invitation, but in the beginning I faced a few challenges with defining and finding my space within the company. It was not as simple as I thought; here is the key, go do it! I had to show them I could do it, and we still had problems. Of course, by then I thought I had all the answers, but we live and learn that we don’t, isn’t it true?

Here are a few actions, which could have made all of our lives easier, and hopefully can spare you of some headaches:

* Define business roles

Since the beginning, I was informally responsible for human resources and marketing and sales. In order to be better able to create the company’s marketing strategy I took a year course on marketing management, (my undergraduate degree is Engineering…). Even after taking the course, my father still would question my ideas and it was difficult to develop strategies, until we sat down and agreed to thoroughly define our roles and responsibilities.

* Formalize the decision-making process

I guess my father had the final say in the beginning, and we never established if it was because of the father figure or because of his business experience. It is important to make clear who has the final say and why, so that everybody is in the same page. After several disagreements – I am not even sure if we were ever aware of what was going on – we sat down and “officially”, but never on paper, decided who would have the final say in each area of the company. Depending on the size of the business, you might need to create a chain of command for decision-making.

* Encourage your children to work elsewhere

My older siblings worked with our parents like I did when we were children, but I was the only one who joined the company right after college. My siblings so far have not joined the company; they followed different careers. After graduating, I was not sure about my career path, I had an idea I did not want to work as an Engineer, and so I jumped into the opportunity to work with my parents. I believe other second generation of family business owners may agree with me, that we always second guess ourselves – Would I have made it if I were not working in the family business? Could I start my own business? Could I have a corporate job and be successful? I have talked to a few business owners in the same situation I was, who felt the same way, and some left the business for a while, only to realize they belonged at their family business and today they are happier and more satisfied, and they believe the outside experience helped them become better entrepreneurs.

* Have family time

Develop family activities in which business discussions are not allowed, and you can just be a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, and really enjoy everybody’s companies. You need to create a commitment to do it; otherwise, you will be talking about the business 24×7 and relationships may get strained.

* Introduce Professional Management

Professional management can help the business focus on its growth without being confused by emotions and family politics. It is a good idea to form a committee including family and non-family members who can make a decision by consensus, or even have a board of directors to help the company stay focus on its goals. However, the company should maintain the family culture, which is usually an important differential in a competitive market.

* Succession Planning

This is a very delicate issue, which has not been addressed by my family, but I hope when you go into business with a family member, or join your family business, you start working on it. It can help a difficult transition go smoothly and avoid/minimize disputes. Take a look at Lena West’s article: “Out with the Old (Technology), In with the New: Making Succession Transitions Easier” for other important and relevant suggestions.

As a general rule, when starting a partnership, either with family members or with friends, you should always write a business agreement. The agreement should include each partner’s financial contribution, the time spent working in the business, how profits and losses will be shared, how decisions will be made and how the partnership can be dissolved. You should also include the partners’ roles and responsibilities, the succession plan, an exit strategy, and anything else you think could come up in the future.

If you have experienced any other issues with your family business, and would like to share it with our readers, please send us an email to editor@womenandbiz.com

For additional information about family business, read Edward Rogoff’s article: The Issues of Being in a Family Business.