I know a lot of people on the Coast here in Small Business, are
also family businesses, so those relationships can sometimes be
complicated further when you toss in working with your relatives.
How many of us have gotten home from work and whinged and moaned
about your co-worker because you were just really hacked off with
them that day? Bit hard to do when the person you are whinging
about, and to, is your husband business partner LOL!
Not trying to brag, but as times have gotten tougher, we have
been quite lucky in our business that people can see the value
for money that our sort of advertising is. The fact that we have
been around so long (2002 seems so long ago now), always operated
ethically and openly also has helped us, particularly when other
sites have gone belly-up recently. This obviously is great for us
business-wise, but family-wise, man, you really get to appreciate
the commitment when you are flat out like we are at the moment,
particularly when some people go on holidays, again... Yes that
is you Leone, Kirsty & Pat that I am talking about? See this
is the conundrum you have in a family business, you are so happy
for your mum to nick off to Europe to spend a month with her
other daughter for her 40th, "Way to Go Mum!". BUT, then you are
stuck doing your mum's job while she is away. MYOB is not my
friend, I am a charity chick, not an accounts person, and when
you are busy like we have been, man, Pat being away (formerly
referred to as 'mum' LOL), is no longer something your happy
about.
Though having said that, I have to say I was impressed with my 15
year old daughter Caitlin, she and another teenager, Celine, do
the old fashioned Saturday work to help me catch up with events
and the like, and last week, they were awesome. Normally everyone
complains about how teenagers nowadays are self-obsessed,
irresponsible, blah blah, but you don't have to have a kid like
Jessica Watson to see that quite a few are really responsible as
well. I was given the opportunity to nick off to Townsville for
the weekend for a friends birthday, right up until the day before
I was supposed to fly out I was thinking of cancelling and
stressing myself stupid about losing too much time at work and
getting too far behind. Suddenly, to my surprise, Caitlin made
the big call of how she could handle everything, all would be
good, and not to stress. I didn't even know she was listening to
the conversation. Who knew that kids 'big ears' could be good?
Anyhow, the moral is that I did get away, had a great time,
(believe me, doing NOTHING is seriously under-rated), and came
back way more refreshed and ready to dig in and cope with the
workload.
I suppose the moral of the story here is that even when you try
really hard not to blur the lines between work and play in a
family business, sometimes the fact that family normally care for
you more than anyone else really does help to make you more
successful. Even more importantly, quite often you gain new
family members. For example, Leone may not be related by blood,
though having worked so closely together over a period of time,
you become family, you have that trust and care. Let's face it,
sometimes the 'family' you acquire over time can be a lot more
supportive then your 'real' family.
I know there has been an awful lot of bad news in business
recently, Clive Peeters in receivership, easyfindguide going
under external administration and more, though on the flipside,
if you are still in business during these times you should be
happy as obviously you are doing something right. What is even
nicer, is being able to share that success from your hard work
with your family, whether they are 'real' or not. We have a great
crew here at MSC, and I am sure many of you out there, really do
appreciate your family and co-staff, so maybe, have a special
lunch, a few drinks after work, whatever floats your boat, just
to get-together and appreciate each other.
What sort of funny things happen in your family business? Or what
sort of advice do you think you could give others with your past
experience of working in small business with family or friends?
We are not talking experts here, we are talking about YOU, the
business here on the Coast, so share your stories :)
Cheers,
Noely
Original Issue #120: "Family business, the good, the bad and
the ugly" The MSC Editors Desk 05 March 2010
